{tribute to my father-in-law}

I met him around the same time I met my husband. I remember getting my very first taste of "show and tell" at our very first meeting. It was a Tommy Gun. A little intimidating at first, but I remember he was just so proud to have it and wanted to show it off. There were lots and lots of Wednesday night dinners with Eric and I. When we went for pizza he always complained that they only had Budweiser beer, but drank his half of the pitcher anyway. I will never look at a piece of prime rib the same. If you ever witnessed him eat that, you know what I am talking about. He loved sharing information - about himself, or what he was interested in at the moment. When Eric and I got engaged, he insisted on helping out with an engagement party. At our wedding, he was the Best Man. His speech was written on the back of a ValPak coupon. Which, we still have.  Each week, he took $20 and spent it on grocery items, or other odds and ends for each of his children. Some of the things he bought that week, other weeks he just opened one of his many file cabinets stocked with such things as olive oil, cookies, noodles, etc., and gave us that. It was always interesting. We called it "The Package". He loved garage sales, and called it "going sailing". When I had Emily, he was one of the very first people to hold her. In fact, it's one of the only pictures I have from that night. I was never a big fan of the Shady game, but it was fun to watch him try and get his Grandchildren involved. Emily has a whole collection of Shadys, including some negatives her Grandpa sent her pretty recently. Every time we have breakfast for dinner, Eric proclaims it, "Illegal" in his best Jerry impression. He loved taking pictures, and sharing them with us. He was always thoughtful. He loved reading this blog and always told me how much he enjoyed watching the girls grow. He was one of the best men I knew and I still can't believe that I am talking about him in the past tense. We loved you so much Jerry/Dad/Grandpa. And I know you knew that.

(pictures from February 2010)