I wrote this on January 17, 2013 after spending some time with Grandpa Lewis. He was a kind, loving man who I admire very much and will truly miss...
Today I spent the day with my Grandpa Lewis. He was born in 1921, and will be 92 in August. His health is not the greatest but it’s not in the worst either. His mind and his memory are very sharp. We played scrabble and we talked, and he talked and I listened. Today I learned many things about my Grandpa that I didn't know.
I learned how he met my Grandma. He was on a date with another girl in Grand Haven and saw Grandma from a distance. He felt at that instant that he wanted to get to know her better. She was with a girl that he knew so he spent the next day finding out where that girl lived so he could get to know Grandma. The rest is history! He paid $15 for the car he was driving at that time.
I learned that at one point in his life there were 13 people living in his house, including his siblings and their spouses and kids, and his grandparents. They survived on $12 a week that his dad made and he doesn't ever remember not having enough food. Their milk was delivered in glass bottles by a milk man with a wagon that was pulled by horses. In the summer the ice wagon would deliver big blocks of dry ice to keep their food cold. They would put a sign in their window, 50, 75 or 100 to let the ice man know what size ice block to deliver. They would run behind the ice wagon to get the small chips of ice that fell off of the wagon to eat to cool off.
He started a business with his brother in law and they turned it into a successful mattress store business. At one time, they had 11 stores in the West Michigan area. He credits Great Grandma DeWitt, his mother in law, for helping to make the business successful due to her smart business sense.
After his kids were grown he spent several years traveling with Grandma. They really enjoyed going to their place in Florida during the Michigan winters. His favorite place that he visited was Japan. He went there over 30 years ago with Grandma and another couple on a business trip to check out sewing machines for the mattress company.
He took an online college History class from Hillsdale a year ago. I wonder if they knew that one of their students was a 90 year old man who loves history? I learned that my youngest son has a lot in common with Grandpa; their love of airplanes, history, astronomy and the constitution. I wonder, is it a coincidence that they share the same first name?
What I liked most about my time with Grandpa today was how he would pause for a minute, look off into the distance and get a big smile on his face. Then he would chuckle and tell me a little bit more about a favorite memory. Today I was blessed to spend the day with my Grandpa.
LeAnn Szymanski