But since he is so quiet, my Grandma and the rest of the family tend to dominate conversations and I have never really gotten to know him personally. A few months ago, I learned that he loved Waffle House which is my favorite breakfast place too. So I made it a goal to take him out to breakfast just me and him one day.
I finally had the opportunity to this morning, and it was such an awesome time!
We were there almost an hour and a half. At first we just made small talk but then I asked him how he and grandma had met. And that got the ball rolling. I got to hear about his childhood and life from 1943-62 and there were some pretty fascinating tidbits in there.
The highlights from my grandfather's life include his 4-5 years as a carnie, briefly attending the same school as James Dean, and winding up being photographed and published in The Book of Knowledge Children's Encyclopedia. One of my favorite parts of the story is that his family ended up in Texas leading to him meeting my grandma because of the lure of the State Fair of Texas.
I came home and wrote everything down so I won't ever forget. I love interviewing relatives because it fulfills that journalist in me.
I hope our Waffle House breakfasts become a new tradition for me and him every time I am in town :)
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