Oh Grandpa

I have this photo done by Herb Ritts hanging in my bedroom.  For my family, this photo has a history and it keeps growing.

Years ago, when my daughter was a teenager, she saw this photo somewhere and really liked it.  So, when I was in DC I happened to see it, bought it, had it framed and gave it to her for Christmas.

When she got married, her husband said the photo wasn't part of the dowry (Why does this photo intimidate men so much?)  so it stayed.

Much to the protest of my husband, I hung it over our bed.  He wasn't happy (again, why are  men so intimidated?) but he left it be.  He even told the grandsons it was a photo of him and they believed him!

The photo has been the topic of many guests at the house.  Again, most of the women see nothing wrong with it.  My husband has the men on his side.  "How can you let your wife hang that thing in your bedroom?"

Today, we added another story to the photo.  My five year old granddaughter was running through the house into the bedroom when she stopped dead in her tracks and said "Grandpa was soooooooooo hot!"

The grandsons proceeded to let her know that the picture was NOT Grandpa.  "See, the guys name is Herb Ritts.  Grandpa's name is John.  It is not Grandpa"  And the intimidation goes on!

(Maybe I'll just have this photo buried with me when I die.  It should fit in the casket.)

Obesity is rampant!

We went to Port Farms in Waterford on Monday with our children and their families.  Port Farms is a working farm that has taken several acres of their land and set up a place for children and their parents to learn about farming.

Part of it is educational and part of it is just fun.   The grandchildren had a great time on the slides, playing in the dirt with dozers, milking a wooden cow, getting lost in the corn maze, taking a hay ride (well actually it was just a wagon ride..... no hay,) among many other activities.

Instead of a room full of balls, the farm had a room full of corn.  (I understand that rolling around in the corn for awhile was quite the skin softener.)  It only took the oldest grandson a few minutes to blossom into a very rotund little boy.  Luckily his obesity was solved by pulling his shirt out of his pants.   (Boy I wish it was that easy!)

His mohawk hairstyle fit right into the country theme.  I overheard a father commenting on my grandson's hairstyle to his son, "That boy looks like a rooster!"

An eskimo proverb

One of the little girls in my grandson's class lost her dad last week. He was killed in the line of duty.

My grandson wanted to make her something special when she came back to school. So, he came to the studio tonight and made her a necklace in the shape of a star. On one side he put a heart to remind her of her Dad. He used a texture that was composed of tiny stars on the other side. In the middle of the stars he put a tiny orange CZ to symbolize a single star in the sky. Unfortunately the photo of the side with the stars did not turn out.

His design was based on an eskimo proverb.

"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy."