Well, I don't know how sassy he was--but he was gay, according to my mom, who was only just recently informed by her older sister, and he was super fun to be around.

We're talking like 1940 here. My mom, who was born in 1936, dearly loved this guy. He was quite a bit younger than Grandpa (who would have been about 40), lived with his mother, and worked with Grandpa at the Salt Lake Tribune.

For anyone who doesn't know, this grandpa was an atheist and, despite coming from a staunch Mormon family, a hater of Mormonism if not of Mormons. He told me several times that there was no god and at least once that the Mormon church was full of shit. The night my aunt got engaged to the son of a Mormon co-worker he couldn't stand, he refused to get out of bed, saying something like, "Please relay my congratulations on her decision to become a baby factory"--which she never did, but he'd been grooming her to be newspaper man like himself, and she had decided to drop out of journalism school, so he was disappointed. He could be a jerk, too. And yes, he had a pink car:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,59567,59567#msg-59567

Back to the gay friend, one afternoon Grandpa was going to visit this guy, and my mom begged him to go with. When they got to the guy's house, Grandpa said he was only going to be a minute and left her in the car (not the pink one--that was about 15 years later). Then he forgot about her.

So little Munchymomom sat in the car, and it got dark, and she got scared and started to cry. Finally she gathered up enough courage to get out and go knock on the door.

The friend's mom answered and called to Grandpa, who was in the kitchen, leaning back on a chair, yakking away with his friend. He admitted he'd forgotten about my mom.

The friend's mom said she deserved a treat, and put a bunch of apples in a Quaker Oats box.

But here's the thing--Grandpa had an orchard with three or four apple trees, so my mom could have apples whenever she wanted and didn't consider them a treat.

When they got home, she decided to get Grandpa in trouble by telling Grandma he had left her in the car. They were sitting at the kitchen table, my mom in some kind of special chair that wasn't a high chair but was higher than the others and had flowers on it.

Again, Grandpa admitted he'd forgotten about her. "But you got a treat, didn't you?" he asked, trying to make himself sound like less of a jerk and a bad dad.

"No."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Now come on, Mrs. Lynn gave you some apples, did she not?"

"Yes, and they were ALL wormy!"

At that moment, Grandpa snatched my mom out of her high flowered chair and gave her a swat on the butt, for lying.

Funny stuff. I just thought it was cool that Grandpa had a gay friend. Of course a lot of people probably did. :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2013 09:09PM by munchybotaz.

I love your stories, felt as if I were there! The Pink Car story is so funny!

The apple story is straight from Munchymomom, so I can't take credit. But the pink car, yeah. That was hilarious.

I wish I had spent more time with Grandpa. My brother got to hang out with him a lot, because he retired from the Tribune around the time my mom went back to work, and he would pick up Brobotaz from Kindergarten in the pink car and take him to the bowling alley for a cheeseburger and stuff.

I was in 4th grade, and I had to walk home and do the dishes. :(

Funny store.

Sounds like grandpa was way ahead of his times.

I keep imagining your grandpa's friend as John Waters.

with a much younger John Waters. Of course I have no idea what my grandpa's friend looked like, but here's my grandpa:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=210320842464037&set=a.210320739130714.1073741825.100004583674149&type=1&theater

Third from the right, with glasses. That's my nice grandma to his left, and my other grandparents to his right. And a closeup:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=210320839130704&set=a.210320739130714.1073741825.100004583674149&type=1&theater

This is my parents' wedding in 1958, a couple years after Grandpa got the pink car. He was 57 and the only person in the photo who was older than I am now.

I was scared of my other grandpa with the black hair. He played rough and was always threatening to turn me over his checkered apron! :-O

nice pics. They look like my own family which is kind of scary lol. I wish I could out myself here with family photos but I can't. But my grandpa was HOT when he was young. He and my grandma look like they stepped out of a movie. Thanks for sharing though. I love seeing old pics like that!

using my alter ego the author's Facebook page and pictures that old. I don't much care, except as far as connecting her with my real name might make other people identifiable. The profile pic is really me, as you probably know.

My main issue with RfM is about work, because you never know where the Mormons are or who might feel defensive on their behalf. My book isn't Mormon friendly, either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 05:45PM by munchybotaz.