17.
When going back to Illinois we would always make sure that Zach visited with
Grandma Em and Grandpa Ted. These were Graig’s grandparents – two very special
people – they had raised Graig. Grandpa Ted would get Z. outside to play ball.
Grandpa was the pitcher and the rest of us were the outfielders. Grandpa also
liked to sing. He was always singing the catchy little ditty: You get a line
and I’ll get a pole, Honey…!
Grandma
was a great cook. She was also fantastic with plants. I have a hibiscus that
she started and gave to me – it must be thirty years old. The plant has gone
from Illinois to Oregon to Tennessee and back to Illinois. Grandma and Grandpa
Evans were married almost 64 years. Here was a “worthy”-couple.
18.
Zach got a tent while we lived in Tennessee. And, so, he had to sleep in it.
One night he wanted to sleep outside in his tent. We convinced him that we
could do this on the back porch. So BaPa, Nanny, and Z. slept on the hard
concrete. I’m thinking that maybe BaPa snuck in the house after a while.
But---not…Nanny.
19.
Zach was about five when he decided he needed roller blades. I took his side of
the questionable issue persuading that he would be good on the “wheels”. The
rest of the family wasn’t so sure. We took him to Target to get a pair of
rollerblades and he was “slipping and sliding” all over the place. Still a lot
of doubt, but he and I convinced the others to purchase the rollerblades. All
the way home I was praying, “Please, Lord, don’t let him get hurt on these
rollerblades because I will never hear the end of it.” Well my Mom had
carpeting in her basement and this is where he practiced and learned to skate.
Before long he was with Becky and her friends (college guys) on the Columbia
tennis courts playing hockey. And… that led to many years sitting in a cold
ice-hockey rink to watch our star player. Thanks for the precious memories.
20.
It was the Christmas season and we had gone to Grandma Dorothy’s to help her
set up a holiday tree. The last thing we put on the tree were her Christmas
beads. When I pulled out those beads, Zach’s eyes got real big and he says,
“Man, Grandma must do a lot of praying.” He thought they were rosary beads.
This is really funny because my mom was Protestant and very intolerant of
Catholicism.
21.
Z. Tyler went to Saints Peter and Paul Grade School in Waterloo. When he
started first grade, I began teaching Kindergarten there. He could pass me and
ignore me – had no idea who I was. What was funny was all his friends knew he
called me Nanny so they would always
greet me – “Hi, Nanny!” After a few years he decided it was okay for me to be
teaching at his school.
22.
After school he would come flying into my classroom, drop his book bag, run to
my storage locker, grab his soccer ball and out the door he would go. There was
always some kind of game being played on the playground and he was in the
middle of it. Now these participants were of all ages and sexes. It was always
very disappointing when it was time to leave. One afternoon I was sitting at my
desk working when the custodian came in. He told me that he spent a lot of time
watching the children play after school and he just wanted me know how kind
Zach was. He said he always watches out for those “little ones”. He always rolls the ball much slower for
those little kids so they have a better chance of kicking it. Zach has always
had a “tender heart”; he is, indeed, one of the “worthy”-people!
23.
Z. Tyler played the drums in school. He was really good. Sometimes the drumming
got on your nerves because everything was his drum. He transferred to
Immaculate Conception in the middle of his sixth grade year. That year at
SPPS’s spring concert the band director told the audience that he didn’t know
how the sixth grade band was going to sound because he had lost he best
drummer. Zach didn’t play in the ICS band. He has a set of drums that I wish he
would get back from his friend. (Hint. Hint.)
24.
Before Becky and Alex left for Germany, we took a trip to Colorado. The last
night of our stay was to be spent at Mile High Stadium in Denver watching a
ball game. Colorado has three outlet malls. We spent money at all three. Z.
Tyler was looking for a pair of Nike tennis shoes. We found them at the first
mall in Colorado Springs but thought maybe we could get them cheaper at another
mall. Well, before we went to the ball game we had to go back to Colorado
Springs to the first mall and get those “special” shoes. When we came home
Beth, Becky and Zach had a picture made – he is wearing those special shoes.
25.
Zach is quite a shot. He got a Ruger stainless-steel rifle with a
Mannlicher-stock topped with a 3 X 9 power stainless-scope when he was 12; a
Ruger pistol when he turned 13 (This pistol is special because it had belonged
to my dad, Grandpa Kermit.); and a 20-gauge Remington pump shot gun. We would
take Z. to Cousin Eric’s to shoot. Targets were set up so that we could shoot
into the hillside. I still have two spent shot gun shells that he shot the
centers out of.
26.
Our trip to Germany for Becky and Alex’s wedding was very special. We traveled
Germany in a green VW bus (the Green-monster)
with no hub cabs. We did a lot of sight-seeing in the short time that we were
there. Visiting the beautiful churches was one of our favorite stops. At every
church, Zach and I would light a candle for the couple’s up-coming wedding. We
visited St. Jakob Cathedral in Innsbruck, Austria. We wanted to light a candle and were told it
would cost 5,000- marks in their coinage. Zach heard the 5,000 and got really
excited. The money was equivalent to about $3.00 U.S. One of our visits took us
to Neuschwanstein castle. We were spending the night in a youth hostel. Coming
in after dark, we noticed that the employees gave us a funny look. It wasn’t
until the next day that we realized why.
Our tour guide had directed us to drive down the walking path to get to
our hostel. (We didn’t hit anyone---nervous
Germans…can run really fast!)
It
was “neat” to watch Zach and Alex’s nephew, Benjamin, interact. They were close
to the same age; one spoke German and the other English. The language barrier
did not stop their fun or natural understanding of one another.
27.
We were renovating a house in Columbia when Zach started 7th grade
at ICS. He and his family were still living in Waterloo. He kept his bike in
the garage of the re-model house in Columbia. In the morning, we would pick him
up and take him to the house so he could ride his bike to school with his
“bicycle-brigade” classmates. He “customized” that ride. After school he would
meet us at the house we were refurbishing where he parked his bike overnight in
the garage. Then, we would take him home to Waterloo. Those, like all of them, were special times.
28.
BaPa and I like to go antiquing. Zach was our side kick on many of those adventures.
When we entered the shop, he would find the depression glass for me, the
marbles for BaPa, and then head for the baseball and hockey cards to add to his
enormous collection (over 10,000 at last count). We were all happy.
29.
Have you ever played “Donkey tail”? BaPa and I have spent hours playing this
card game with Z. Tyler. We bought the card game at Bi-Mart in Oregon. (Kind of
a “Wal-Mart” which the state did not get until we had moved.) They did have the
“original” concept of Lowe’s and Home Depot with a store name of Fred Meyer’s.
(The first time Z. heard us say we were going to Fred Meyer’s, he got very
excited because he thought we were going to Uncle Freddie’s farm back in
Illinois.) We have tried and tried to buy this game for the “girls” but can’t
find it anywhere.
30.
We took Z. Tyler to the card shop when collecting was at its peak. Grandma
Margie went with us. Zach got a Mario Lemieux rookie card and a new Beckett
magazine giving the value of collector-cards. As we were heading home we heard
Zach say, “Man, did you get taken.” He found the card we had just purchased in
his new Beckett. And… he was right!!! We had greatly over paid for the card. A
quick u-turn took us back to the card store. The clerk sheepishly refunded our
money. No rookie card. (We had paid $400.00 for the card; she had swindled us.)
31.
I am anxiously awaiting Memory 31 –
October 13, 2018. Zach will begin a very important chapter in his Book-of-life.
BaPa and I look forward to this very special day. May God bless this special
couple, Jen and Z. Tyler, and may they add many, many happy chapters to their “coupled” Book-of-Love! Amen!
Love-forever, Nanny
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