June Eleven

When I was a little girl my Grandma Syble took care of me during the day while my mother worked. My Grandpa (Don) taught me my birthday from a very young age. I must have started by missing the TH at the end of June eleventh because together we ALWAYS referred to my birthday as June eleven. How I can hear his booming voice. My memory isn't great but I will never forget his voice saying, "DUSTY!!!" when he would come in for lunch. It was as though he was overjoyed to find that I was there.......even though I was there every day. I remember wearing his white t-shirts to bed when I stayed the night there. I remember his love of ice cream. I remember this stuffed animal, it was a bear with a heart on the chest.......it was given to him after his first heart attack. I remember going with him to many doctor appointments and stopping to get a frosty from Wendy's. His death is the only true loss I've ever experienced.

Amy, Grandpa, and Josh


He came to my house once when I was about 23 years old to fix my dishwasher.......I remember my grandmother saying, "Make sure that breaker is off, you know your Grandpa's got that pacemaker!!". While Grandpa was laying down on the ground at 70+ years old fixing my dishwasher I was doing laundry. When I opened the washer there was a mouse running around in the empty tub. I shrieked. When I showed it to Grandpa he LAUGHED and said sarcastically, "What? You're not going to get it?". He asked me for a small paper sack and he just snatched up that little mouse in a second. Always my hero.



My birthday always makes me think of him and as I write this I can HEAR his laugh and his booming voice saying, "DUSTY!! It's June eleven!!" It is, and I love you Grandpa.