Two and a Half

I’ve described him to people as the biggest and smartest man in the world. As I got older my assessment has changed a bit, maybe because I have gotten taller or he has shrunk. Either way, he is still the smartest man in the world and one of the most special to me – my “Poppy.”

I have mentioned a few times how amazing my “Nana” is and alluded to the fact that my grandfather must also be special since my grandma would certainly not spend 64 years of her life with a bum. As an 85 year old man, my grandfather runs a 40 person (only 40 people go since he has been running it) Humanities class at the library, exercises, reads three books at time (including light reads like War and Peace) and has successfully owned six businesses.

I may have gotten my tendency for being a little obsessive from my grandpa. Somewhere in line with his strong feelings for Venture at one point many years ago, Dunkin Donuts and Costco, my Poppy fell in love with the age of 2-1/2. He started a tradition of celebrating his grandchildren’s and great grandchildren’s 2-1/2 birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese (or Show Biz Pizza as it was when I was a mere 2-1/2 year old) complete with traditional ID bracelet as a gift.

This past weekend we celebrated the tradition with our soon to be (December 26) 2-1/2 year old little girl.

The thing with Gabby is that it’s NEVER just about her. Her birthday piggy backs on Drew’s (Drew’s June 12 and Gabby’s June 26). She never gets a chance to be in the spotlight without Drew steam rolling over her to outshine her. So the chance to be the big half birthday girl was a role that we weren’t exactly sure how she would take to.

The good news was that she took to it like a duck takes to water. The bad news is that, shockingly, Drew didn’t take his back seat role as well.

It was a really fun party and I’m so very grateful that I have my grandpa around to perpetuate his custom with my kids. My grandparents have played a pivotal role in my upbringing and so many of the wonderful childhood memories I have. I just hope and pray that my children will be able to say the same thing.