Grandfatherhood

My dad looks a lot like his dad, who died before I was born. Whenever I saw a picture of my grandpa, I'd ask, "Um... was Grandpa Keith grumpy all the time?" and the answer was always, "No! He was really funny, a great storyteller, had a really odd sense of humor." Not unlike my dad. But here is the reason I ended up asking that question:

This is my Irish dad, enjoying a root beer float on Labor Day weekend. Seems like a boy would like a root beer float on a hot day, but his expression for some reason conveys, "What is wrong with you people? Why are you doing this to me?"

Whenever I see him I try to get some candids of him being goofy, or relentlessly tickling my boys, or snuggling with them for a bedtime story, or in deep and proud concentration with Eli as they fish. Because that's the kind of grandpa he is, and some day I want to be able to not only tell my grandkids so, but show them.

This last one I edited to look like some old polaroids of my grandpa from the 70s. It's a little more of a smile than I typically get. We'll call it the do over.