My Grandpa

This is my Grandpa, Floyd Merle Kyllo. His birthday would have been yesterday. This picture was taken in about 1989 or 1990. I loved him so much. He was a twin and the oldest of 13 in his family. When he was born in 1908 they didn't think he was alive but as my great grandmother was having his twin brother Lloyd they put my grandfather in a box on the oven door to keep him warm and the nurse (midwife) I guess saw his foot move and they realized he was alive. He was a hard worker. He was a logger and construction worker, even after he retired he worked as a school crossing guard. This picture was one morning as we were getting ready to come back home. They lived in Grand Island Nebraska. I loved to listen to my grandfather tell stories of when he was a child. He had a dog Max. I swear that dog could talk to him... and he was just my grandfathers dog. After Rick and I were married we went to meet my grandparents, we slept in my grandfathers bed, Rick had gotten into bed and I was getting ready to, Well, max came running in jumped on the bed and firmly planted his feet on Rick's chest and growled, he was not impressed. Rick said "grandpa. grandpa." I other on the other hand am laughing only because it is not me...my grandpa came to the rescue and got max down. My mother taught me so much about caring, I would watch my mother even though she was in TX and they were in NE she would talk to them weekly and sometimes more often. She would make sure they had what they needed and most of the time what they wanted. Anytime we went up there she made sure that she would get different things for them to eat if they wanted to. I am thankful to my grandfather for the example he set for me. I am thankful that he taught me the value of hard work. I am thankful for his determination, even when things were tough. I know it was hard for him when my grandmother died and my Aunt Karen was just 15, even though he remarried, he would show my pictures of my grandmother and talk about her me. When he died my Aunt Karen got many of his albums and now my mom has them and someday I will. I am thankful for the many times I got to spend with my grandparents as a child, I cherish those memories.