Five years ago, Betty and I moved to Colorado Springs so that we could be closer to her dad. We had been coming down once a month to visit him, but it just wasn't enough for Betty. We checked into the possibility of working remotely and we changed our address. It was a good move.
Betty's dad is a really independant man. He takes care of himself and is a good example for me.
He was born in Mexico and served a mission for the LDS church when he was a young man. Later he was drafted into the US Army and served as an Air Borne Ranger. He has first hand experience with Normandy, Berlin, and Guam. He doesn't talk about them very often, but it is fascinating when he does.
I have enjoyed getting to know a few of the men who served with him as a "Mule Skinners". The mules were once used to transport the supplies for the soldiers. They were replaced with jeeps and tanks.
After he left the armed services, he worked as a heavy equipment operator. He often will show Betty and I some waterline or road or parking lot and let us know that he had part in preparing the land for those features. He still loves to watch heavy equipment.
He and his wife, Grace, moved into their little mountain home in 1964. He used to take twelve mile walks from his home into the mountains. When Betty's Mother was ill, we watched him care for her faithfully until she passed away.
I am grateful for his kindness to us and for the exampleful he has set for me.
2 comments:
Popo is a great treasure and I am very proud and grateful to have had an opportunity to get to know him! He is kind and loving and I love how he is with my kiddos. I think it is great that you and Betty moved to be closer to him, even though you are not 30 minutes away from me anymore, I know that he loves having you so close and that makes it all worth it!
I loved reading about Uncle Pete! Bob remembers fondly the time he happened to have a business trip to Denver, and he had a rental car. He made the drive to see Uncle Pete for the night. They talked "army" stuff - as Bob was in the Army and Uncle Pete was too. He will never forget that night. It was very special to him!!! Love learning all I can about my relatives! :) Thank you for sharing this! And thank you for being closer to him to help care for him!
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