Grandpa Paul

My Grandpa (Grandpa Paul as Sophie calls him) passed away in October this year. He was 98. He was ready to go and it was much more of a celebration than a funeral. My Grandma passed away about 10 years ago and he really missed her. This is my dad's dad and the only grandparents I knew growing up since my mom's mom died way before I was born and her dad died when I was 6 months old. I do have a step grandma who we were close to as well, but my dad's parents lived in the same town and we were with them a lot. Here are a few memories I have of my Grandparents, Paul and Alice;

• We would go over to their house for sleepovers and play in the basement. My Grandpa had set up a play store for us with a cash register and empty cereal boxes and cans so we could "shop" in the basement. He made forts and a stage for us to play on. I remember dressing up and putting on my Grandma's old jewelry for a fashion show. He was forever changing things around in the basement so we would always be excited to see how it would be the next time we visited.
• My Grandpa would pretend to be a cab driver when we went somewhere and we would all sit in the back (including Grandma) and tell "James" where we would like to go.
• Both of my grandparents are of Swedish decent and spoke Swedish in their homes. So when they didn't want us to know what they were saying, they spoke Swedish. My Grandma spoke Swedish better than my Grandpa and sometimes had to help him on certain words.
• They took us to the zoo quite a lot. The best part was riding the train and when we went throught the tunnel, my Grandma would scream like a little kid!
• We were always excited to see their big yellow car come up our street, it meant fun was on the way!