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This is a really deep and interesting thread. I've only read the first few so far, but will definitely need to come back and finish reading. Here's my info:
Maternal Grandfather: My Grandpy Hurley was a great, great man. He's the one person that I've ever truly seen as a role model for who I want to be. When I was younger he would take me and my cousins out into the field and woods behind his house to go snake hunting (this is in the Detroit suburubs, not out in the sticks, so it was a rare treat). He'd play whiffle ball with us and take us for walks. He was a smart man, too. Sharp to the last. I also remember he had BEAUTIFUL penmanship. Not uncommon for people from his generation, but still something that is rare today. I know he served as a Cavalry Officer in the Phillipines during WWII. Sadly, I never talked to him much about it. I went to Basic Training many years after he passed away, but I had a picture of him in his uniform in my locker, and his memory helped me get through the toughest days. He passed when my first son was just starting to show in his mom's belly. We didn't want to tell my grandpa becuase I was petrified he'd be upset (we were quite too young). Literally on his death bed, he told me and Brett's mom that everything would be okay and touched her belly. He had known. It still makes my tear up to think about what a wonderful great granddad he would've been. Even in his oldest age, before cancer struck, the neighborhood kids would come by and ask my grandma if he could come out and play. They all called him, "Mr. Bob". With all of his grandkids and step-grandkids grown up, he had a lot of time to treat the neighborhood kids just like they were part of his family, and took them on the same walks, snake hunts and played the same whiffle ball with them. God I miss him!
Maternal Grandmother: My Grandma Ella died when my mom was only 16. I never met her, but I've heard a lot from my mom and my mom's aunts. From everything I can tell, she was a lot like my grandfather and had a very adventerous spirit. Her, her two sisters and her brother came over to this country from Ukraine when they were very young. The sisters were all very different. My Aunt Ann is the surviving sister, and someone with whom I've spent a lot of time growing up. After 29 years, I've never been as close to her as I'd like, but there's still time. My step-grandmother and I didn't get along very well. She was a nice lady, mostly, but had a jealous streak. At one point, when I was young, she had kicked my grandfather out of the house and he stayed with my mother and I for a month or so. I never forgave her for that, even though everyone else did. She outlived my grandpa for a few years, and after his death, my mom and her grew quite close (which they had never been before). I was there when she passed away as well. I do feel guilty for never letting her off the hook, but that's life I guess...
Paternal Grandfather: My Grandpa Williams was, actually, a jerk. He was a coal miner when my dad and his siblings were growing up. His job moved them state to state throughout the south. He was an alcoholic (and in the end, so was my father). He was mean and grouchy. He had retired by the time I remember him, and would lay around on the couch smoking cigars and barking orders. Bah!
Paternal Grandmother: My Grandma Williams was an interesting lady. Very much the hillbilly, but funny and a good listener. I never spent a lot of time around her, and none of my memories are good or bad, just very neutral.
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