Merry Christmas!

New Year, New Name, New Look

I know I'm about two weeks early, but the right name came to me finally. So, the Denney's blog is now "Party of Five". That's what we are. A party of five. And with a new name, I decided it was time for a new look. 2010 here we come!

Introducing

The December student of the month!

90

Major league baseball bases are 90 feet apart. 90 is the latitude of the north and south poles. 90 is the international number for calls to Turkey. Cuba is 90 miles off the coast of Florida. According to Wikipedia, 90 is a Harshad number, a Perrin number, is semi-perfect, pronic, and unitary perfect. It is also a nontotient. Whatever. Most importantly, 90 is the birthday my grandpa just celebrated.

When my grandfather was born on November 24, 1918, Woodrow Wilson was president. World War I had ended just 13 days earlier. Warner Brothers Pictures was incorporated, and an influenza epidemic killed 20 million people world wide. Jazz music was gaining popularity, and the average family income was $1518. A pound of steak cost about 37 cents.

He was born in Arizona, one of nine or ten children, and orphaned around age 5. He remembers being sent away on the train with one brother after his parents died. In high school he worked as a soda jerk at a lunch counter where he was paid 25 cents a week. He played football at Arizona State University. Luckily, he stole my grandmother's heart away from her fiance, and she married him instead. He was by her side when she died of ALS in 1980.

During World War II, he served in the Air Force, working on planes in the relative safety of England. While he was away, my mother was born. They didn't meet until she was two years old. They moved to Medford, and my aunt came along. Thanks to the GI Bill, he went to college and studied education. He served as principal at several elementary schools until his retirement about 25 years ago.

On Saturday, over 120 people showed up to wish my grandpa a happy 90th birthday. Although I literally knew a handfull of them, I was amazed at who came. There were former students, teachers, Rotary club friends, church friends, four great-granddaughters and of course retirement home neighbors. People had traveled from as far as Eastern Oregon and Portland ("by train, since my children don't allow me to drive this far anymore") just for the event.


My favorite memories of Grandpa are of spending days at school with him while he was principal, and fishing trips. I would shadow him through his work day which included hours in his office, lunch duty, and visiting classrooms. The students were amazed he had a granddaughter. I was amazed he had a career. Fishing trips began with breakfast at 4:30 in the pitch dark followed by the rituals of getting the boat into the water and baiting my own hooks. He was master on the Rogue River. A professional guide for years, he knew all the best spots. I'll never forget his pride when I landed a 37 pound salmon in front of a bunch of his buddies. He rowed his drift boat with power and ease well into his sixties.

Grandpa's a lot slower these days. Everything's slower. His memory. His body. We have to constantly repeat things. When I send him the more than fifty pictures I took on Saturday, he'll get to enjoy them for the first time over and over again. He's allowed. 90 years is a really long time. We should all be so lucky.

And, just so you know what you've got to look forward to, here's a picture from outside the dining room at his retirement home at 5:00.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

 

It was perfect day to get our tree. We had a great time traipsing around the frozen mud at our favorite tree farm! The view was amazing, but it was clear and really cold. After two quick picks and hot drinks, we headed home to decorate. More photos to come!