Meet My Family; Grandpa Sperling

My current adventure involves an entire set of people that I haven't ever posted about; my family. I think that for me to post my "state side" adventures, I must introduce you to the people that I'm having the adventures with. So I'm going to begin with my Grandpa. His name is Delos Sperling and he is 82 years old. I probably haven't seen him in 5 years (I know, I'm a bad grandchild). He is a WWII veteran. He was part of the Army Mountain Division, which is funny b/c he grew up in Oklahoma and we don't have mountains here. He told me recently that he was surprised that he was assigned to that part of the Army b/c he had no previous experience in the mountains. He spent most of his time in Italy in WWII. He also told me that he wanted to join up when he was a junior in high school, but that his father and a teacher talked him (actually forced him) to finish his last year of high school before he could enlist. My Grandpa was married for over 55 years and had three sons. For as long as I can remember, my Grandpa was always a flirt. I remember when I was little and I would go with him to the bank, post office, grocery store.... (you pick a place in OKC) and he knew everybodys name and they all knew him. He always takes the time to talk to people and has always been very genki. Everyone loves him and remembers him wherever he goes. In fact the day that this photo was taken he flirted with our waitress. He is a very strong man considering how sick he has been. Since I was little he has had severe diabetes, then a horrible heart attack in the 80's, and now kidney failure. It's sad, but no matter how ill he becomes, he always remains so happy and positive. Another memory I have of him involved the daily drop offs (my dad dropped us off on the way to work) at his house in the mornings when I was little. Grandpa would come to the door and give me a bear hug and rub his stubbly beard on my face. I would scream and tease that I was in pain, even though I enjoyed the attention. I'm proud to say that he is my Grandpa and that I'm his first born grandchild.

OK so quickly my adventure with my grandpa....... he and my father drove down to Arlington, TX to pick me up. We lunched with Rich at PappaDeaux's before heading north (about 3-4 hours) to OKC. About 2 years ago my Grandpa traded in his old station wagon and purchased a hybrid Honda Civic. He loves to scoot around in it, so this was an opportunity to take it on a small road trip to retrieve me. Like I said before, he flirted with the waitress and recounted his military career to a very interested Rich. After arriving at his house in OKC he showed me the huge collection of quarters that he has amassed. He decided that he was going to collect all 50 state quarters for every grandchild and great grandchild. Currently there are 5 grandchildren and I believe 4 great grandchildren (probably wrong on that number thanks to step children and remarriages). Anyway he has about 18 sets of the quarters that have been released so far. We visited a bit more and then he sent me on my way with a bag of fruit, including some pears from his pear tree in the backyard. (Rich, Now I know where I get my fruit pushing gene from.) Hopefully I will get to see my Grandpa again soon.