family history on my dad's side.

today i was lying on the love seat thinking about my family and some of my favorite memories growing up.  on my mom's side of the family i had met her aunts and uncles, but as i sat back and thought about my dad's side of the family, i couldn't remember a lot of aunts and uncles on his dad's side of the family.  on his mom's side, my mamaw, i always knew the standingwaters, but i couldn't think of any on my grandpa truman's.  i called my dad to ask if his dad had any brothers and sisters.

i could remember my aunt ruth, who was quite a bit older than my dad and used to come visit us when we lived in evansville.  i hadn't really seen or heard much about her, though since i was about five or six years old.  as i started thinking about it, i wasn't really sure how she was my aunt.  turns out she is my dad's half-sister, from a family my grandpa had before the family he started with my mamaw. 

dad said that grandpa had a sister, velma, and a brother who died in the war.  or that's what my grandpa had told him.  dad remembers being at the hospital one time with my grandpa when he was pretty sick and the staff was asking him if he had any siblings.  that's when my dad heard the story of his brother and that he had been killed in the war.

dad's sister rose later told him that grandpa's brother had died of cancer.  "i don't know why daddy said that," my dad told me. "i guess he was too proud to admit they both had cancer."

i wish i had gotten the opportunity to spend more time with my grandpa.  i remember him, but i don't think justin does, and he passed away well before sierra was born.  -- some of the memories that immediately come to mind when i think of grandpa include driving down the road coming into tahlequah from stilwell and seeing my grandpa putt-putting along in his old truck.  dad would flipped a u-turn to catch up to him and tell his daddy hi.  i remember that happening a lot.  in a world before cell phones, you couldn't just dial someone up and tell them to pull over or meet you somewhere.  i also remember the cabin at the river, the house in evansville, and one of his hunting hounds having puppies.  my dad loved his dad so much.  it took him a long, long time to get over the loss.  {that must be where i get my fear of losing my parents from}.  i wish i would have had the chance to know my dad's dad a little better.