Grandpa Vermal was a character. he loved family. he would greet you (and tell you goodbye) with a bear hug and a kiss right on the mouth. he took great pride in his Polaroid pictures. he loved games. he loved fireworks. he was a water skier and bowler. he was pretty much a competitive lawnmower. he loved helping my dad on the farm. he and Grandma took so much pride in their little house. there were religious paint by number pictures Grandpa had done framed on the walls. they enclosed the front porch and made it into a little room. he moved Grandma's washer and dryer and canning stove upstairs when he built a room onto the back of the dining room and side of kitchen. he also dabbled in woodworking and ring making. you always woke there to the sound of KTTN radio in the kitchen. and you went to sleep listening to Grandma & Grandpa's quiet voices.
Grandpa had a hard life. his mother left his father and she took his baby brother and sister. his dad sent him, his twin sister VermaDean, and his older sister to live with his brother Frank. Uncle Frank & Aunt Mae had 2 children of their own, they took them in. Grandpa only went to school thru 4th grade, then quit to work on the farm. he ran away and hitchhiked to Lamoni to find his mother in his teens.
Grandma & Grandpa both worked their entire lives until retirement. they bowled in leagues. they had a speed boat, Grandma drove, Grandpa water skied. they had a camper and would go to Grand Lake of the Cherokees every summer. Mom remembers a long car trip to California. they posed mom and her sisters by the state signs. (I think this is awesome. I've posed my own kids...mainly Miss Katie. we rarely got out of state when Koren & KJ were still home.) They took me with them to camp at the Old Threshers Reunion in high school. Grandma had little curtains in the camper, and pots and pans and real dishes. she cooked right there. full meals. and did dishes.
Grandpa would always tell you you made a better door than a window if you got between him and the tv. He loved St Joe wrestling and Bulldog Bob Brown. he also was a Royals fan. and professional bowling. there was a tv show...pro bowling tour or something. there was always RC cola in the fridge, bottom shelf. and ""I'm gonna stomp a mudhole in you, DebberWebber." what I'd give to hear that again! He had a knee replacement, and a stroke. then cancer. and heart troubles. he was in a wheelchair, then bedridden, home with hospice. he didn't want heroic measures. He seemed happy with his hospital bed in the picture window, overlooking Grandma's beautiful flower garden and the neighborhood.
I had a dream about Grandpa after he passed. I was in the Old West. like 1880s. and I take a seat at the bar. he's on the next bar stool and turns to me, tips his hat. And he says something about "I'm not dead, by ad there, I'm here." and he was healthy and happy and full of life. he had that great big shit eating grin back.the big thing now is, Grandpa had a saying he sprinkled freely into his speech. it could be used as a curse word, or an exclamation, or just a filler while he thought of what to say next. it was either by ad there or by God there. I remember by ad there, Kevin remembers by God there. no one can agree. makes for some pretty lively conversations.
Grandpa and his twin sister VermaDean
back of photo inscribed "Feb. 15, 1953" I know Great Grandpa Tom Maxwell is second from left, Grandpa Vermal Brown in middle, and Great Grandma Gilly Maxwell 3rd from left. Grandpa had magnificent hair. like Elvis.
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