Today is PawPaw’s 59th birthday.  He was 21 when we married in 1969.  My how time flies.  I have no way to post photos of PawPaw since my computere isn’t set up, and he probably wouldn’t like that anyway.  So I’ll have to settle for a no-photograph tribute.

In 1967 I was sitting at the college grill with some friends.  PawPaw walked up to the table and started talking - mostly to me.  We hit it off immediately, and he soon asked me out.  On that Valentine’s Day, I woke up and hiked down the dormitory hall to the bathroom.  When I returned there was a big heart-shaped box of chocolates on my pillow and a lovely valentine.  He’d gotten one of my friends to place them there as soon as she heard me leave my room.  PawPaw has always been really good at surprises and picking out gifts.  I remember being overwhelmed with joy at such a sweet expression of caring.

He’s a strong man.  Our son tells him he has “old man strength.”  Our son is a tall and strong man himself, and yet he still is amazed at how strong PawPaw is.  I don’t think there is any physical task he won’t at least attempt.  Last year we were looking at some land and had to cross a small creek.  He had on waterproof boots.  I didn’t.  He just picked me up and carried me across - and I’m definitely NOT a waif.  He’s a successful businessman, and yet he still drives a bulldozer to build the road to our new house.  A couple weeks ago he was clearing some trees for an electricity cable and a tree he’d cut started falling toward a fence.  He literally held the tree up by himself until I could move the truck and get a chain around the trees and pull the tree in the other direction.  Incredible!  His hands are large and strong.  Since my hands are small, it’s nice to have his hands available for opening jars, too.

However, PawPaw’s strength isn’t just physical. He’s the rock of our family.  Family and church are important to him, and I know he’ll be there if I need him.  He has incredible determination - starting his own business after years in the corporate world.  Our daughter is a vice president in his company, and our son’s business is a subsidiary of his company.

I call him PawPaw here at TMS because that’s what our two granddaughters call him.  There is nothing sweeter than hearing their little voices saying “PawPaw.”  He is an outstanding father and grandfather.  And he has the funniest sense of humor.  We do a lot of laughing when we’re together.

One of the things I love about PawPaw is his consistency.  Whenever he has to travel on business - from the day we married, I could always count on his calling me every single day - sometimes more than just once.   

I’m glad we’re back together, and I’m looking forward to being married to him again.  Happy Birthday, PawPaw!

My nephew, Josh, is a birthday buddy with PawPaw.  Josh turns 26 (I think) today.  He’s a soldier, waiting to be deployed to Iraq.  His mom has a tribute to him on her blog and a photo that brought tears to my eyes. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 12th, 2006 at 7:27 am and is filed under Birthday Honors, That's My Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.