al baker (the first one)

Here are 15 reasons why you'd have liked my Grandpa Baker:

1. He wore one of those old grandpa hats. Kind of like this.

2. He used to yell at the Packers on the TV all the time. Like when he was 85 years old, he was telling Mike McKenzie what a bum he was.

3. He lived to be 91.

4. He was married to Ginny Baker for over 60 years.

5. He used to call us Peanut and/or Pickle.

6. He had a sweet ping-pong table in the basement.

7. One winter day, we were driving by a farm and there were cows out, and he said, "Farmer must be making milkshakes."

8. He and Grandma always used to take us to the Madison zoo and get us those little wax animals.

9. His middle name was Obert.

10. He played Old Maid with us all the time.

11. One time I broke the window to the garage, and my dad made me tell Grandpa myself. After I told him what I'd done, I was convinced that he hadn't heard me because there was literally no reaction. He just got up and said, "Let's go take a look." Then he saw the window and said, "Well, windows break." And he replaced it right there.

12. He used to fill a coffee can with water and let us "paint" on the basement walls with it.

13. He was legitimately handy. Could make chairs and stuff.

14. When he found out that he had to have stomach surgery, his biggest concern was that he now had to eat several small meals a day, and my grandma was used to making three squares a day. He said, "I don't think Ginny's going to like that."

15. He was a member of the Freemasons, which is a sort of secret society, and secret societies are cool.

And so was my grandpa.

Later gators.