The Flight of the Whittakers Part 2

  One of the best smells to me is the smell of Folgers coffee. I won't let a drop of the sub-par liquid pass my lips, but I love the smell of it being brewed. The reason for this stems from my childhood visits to my Grandparents house. My grandparents used to live in a cute cabin that was apart of a Christian conference center. My Grandma was the bookkeeper and my Grandpa did maintenance. My family would visit at least once a summer and would stay in a neighboring cabin. Every morning, my sister and I would get up and race to Grandpa and Grandma's house so that we could climb in bed and snuggle with them. No matter how early we got up, my grandparents would have already brewed a pot of Folgers and were enjoying a cup of coffee in their bed. I loved the feel of their satiny pajamas and smell their cups of coffee and we talked about the important things in life like our dog, Cocoa, and what my hamster, Cinnamon, was doing while we were away.

  Fast forward 20 years, I am once again visiting my grandparents. This time, I am with my husband and two boys. My grandpa turned 90 years old and we were so excited to attend his birthday party. I was excited to see my grandparents once again. Beniah was excited because he thought that it was going to be an angry bird party. His cousin, Jeshu had an angry bird party so why wouldn't everybody else have one? 

Once the cake was brought out, Beniah was content with the boring party where everyone just talked.

The nice thing about grandma feeding her grandson ice cream....

 ...was the sugar crash that followed.

All of my aunts and uncles were able to make it.

And six of the sixteen Grandchildren and five of the twenty six Great Grandchildren were able to make the trip.

I also got my coveted four generations photo (which was taken three seconds before the meltdowns happened).

We had a fun time sharing memories of growing up with Grandpa. I loved hearing how my Grandpa came alongside others and encouraged them in the Lord. I loved hearing how my aunt put my Grandpa's hair in pin curls while he was asleep and then (when a deacon from the church he was pastoring came for a visit) woke my grandpa up to answer the door. I loved hearing how my

Grandparents have been married for almost 70 years and still see them show love to each other in small ways.

 

One of the highlights for me was hearing my almost blind grandpa yell out, “Identify yourself!” whenever some one entered the room or started talking. It made for some humorous split second moments of awkwardness.