Yesterday was my grandfather's funeral. It was a sad day, but at the same time it was a good day because of the fun memories and neat experiences. People used to call my grandpa Ivan. Ivan was his middle name and it was also his father's middle name. I always thought Ivan was a cool name. Especially after seeing parts of Rocky IV on TV one Saturday afternoon a long time ago (i've never seen the whole thing, nor have I seen any Rocky movies the whole way through... I grew up sheltered by swathes of chick flicks. The manliest shows I ever saw as an adolescent were Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Herbie and Back to the Future). Anyway, I like the name Ivan. It's Russian for John and the Gospel According to John is my favorite New Testament book.
I have a handful of fun memories of my grandpa Fred Ivan. I remember my mom used to drop me off at his house during the summer, and then he would take me to his mom's house (Gram) and I used to mow her lawn. She would give me 4 quarters, a pepsi and some vanilla duplex cookies. It was awesome and I loved doing it. Back then I would do anything for money , and even still today I would especially do it if free food was included!
Grandpa had several jobs and often worked 2 jobs to support his family of 8 children. His "on the side" job was his own appliance repair business. He took me on a few service calls once. I remember going to old ladies houses and helping to hand him a "screw driver, damn it!". I couldn't ever tell if he was frustrated with me or the busted washer he was repairing. It was cool because sometimes we would go to a supply shop that always had a box of donuts that were free for the taking. I've always loved donuts. (once again, free food just for tagging along)
One really cool memory that I have to share with a few other cousins is that once he took some of us boy cousins to the state fair. As we were leaving the fair he bought us all Whoppers from Burger King. This was my first exposure to one of the best hamburgers in the world. It was so big to me back then. As we headed home in the Astro van, he turned around to me and told me to stop talking so much. I was so embarrassed, I mean I hadn't said a word and here he was telling me to be even quieter.... I didn't understand his sarcasm at first and had to just play along with the joke, hiding tender tears behind a fake chuckle. The pic below is not his astro van, but it is similar.
I guess you can say I was a sensitive kid. I remember being in trouble a lot. I inherited some of his mechanical intuition, but as a child that usually meant that I was always breaking perfectly good things either for to see how they worked, or just because I was curious as to how ceramic items shattered when thrown. Nonetheless, I had a destructive reputation. The summer before first grade we caravaned with him to California for a family reunion. Grandpa was so cool to me because he made mini drink coolers by using golf tees to tamp the little holes in the side compartments of the Astro van. However, he wouldn't let me ride with him because he was afraid that I would ruin things in his gray Astro van.
He was a big kid at heart and had a lot of cool toys, I remember snooping in the closet trying to find cool stuff to play with. Probably feeling pressure to clean out his closet, one Christmas he gave me his Radio Shack remote controlled truck. I still have the truck and play with it all the time. Megan bought me a Tundra for Father's day last year so now I have 2 trucks which makes Williams Easter Daytona 500 way fun.
All the grandchildren remember his magic tricks and his silly jokes. At the beginning of this year I had the opportunity to work with my mom and my little brother and my brother in law to finish the bathroom project he started 40+ years ago. We did a pretty good job. Unfortunately he didn't want to use the new bathroom because I guess it was too fancy, but grandma sure loves it! The following picture is of Grandma and Grandpa at our wedding luncheon, exactly 3 years to the day before he passed away.
Anyway, those are a few of my memories of grandpa Lambert. We have a lot to live up to as we look through the Lambert heritage. Grandpa served in the Navy before going on his mission. He had a 21 gun salute at his graveside service. That was probably the most emotional part of the day to me. My emotions run high when I think of the service that I and others have done because I know that every little bit helps to make the world a better place to live whether it be by protecting liberties or spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks for reading my memories of grandpa Lambert.
I have a handful of fun memories of my grandpa Fred Ivan. I remember my mom used to drop me off at his house during the summer, and then he would take me to his mom's house (Gram) and I used to mow her lawn. She would give me 4 quarters, a pepsi and some vanilla duplex cookies. It was awesome and I loved doing it. Back then I would do anything for money , and even still today I would especially do it if free food was included!
Grandpa had several jobs and often worked 2 jobs to support his family of 8 children. His "on the side" job was his own appliance repair business. He took me on a few service calls once. I remember going to old ladies houses and helping to hand him a "screw driver, damn it!". I couldn't ever tell if he was frustrated with me or the busted washer he was repairing. It was cool because sometimes we would go to a supply shop that always had a box of donuts that were free for the taking. I've always loved donuts. (once again, free food just for tagging along)
One really cool memory that I have to share with a few other cousins is that once he took some of us boy cousins to the state fair. As we were leaving the fair he bought us all Whoppers from Burger King. This was my first exposure to one of the best hamburgers in the world. It was so big to me back then. As we headed home in the Astro van, he turned around to me and told me to stop talking so much. I was so embarrassed, I mean I hadn't said a word and here he was telling me to be even quieter.... I didn't understand his sarcasm at first and had to just play along with the joke, hiding tender tears behind a fake chuckle. The pic below is not his astro van, but it is similar.
I guess you can say I was a sensitive kid. I remember being in trouble a lot. I inherited some of his mechanical intuition, but as a child that usually meant that I was always breaking perfectly good things either for to see how they worked, or just because I was curious as to how ceramic items shattered when thrown. Nonetheless, I had a destructive reputation. The summer before first grade we caravaned with him to California for a family reunion. Grandpa was so cool to me because he made mini drink coolers by using golf tees to tamp the little holes in the side compartments of the Astro van. However, he wouldn't let me ride with him because he was afraid that I would ruin things in his gray Astro van.
He was a big kid at heart and had a lot of cool toys, I remember snooping in the closet trying to find cool stuff to play with. Probably feeling pressure to clean out his closet, one Christmas he gave me his Radio Shack remote controlled truck. I still have the truck and play with it all the time. Megan bought me a Tundra for Father's day last year so now I have 2 trucks which makes Williams Easter Daytona 500 way fun.
All the grandchildren remember his magic tricks and his silly jokes. At the beginning of this year I had the opportunity to work with my mom and my little brother and my brother in law to finish the bathroom project he started 40+ years ago. We did a pretty good job. Unfortunately he didn't want to use the new bathroom because I guess it was too fancy, but grandma sure loves it! The following picture is of Grandma and Grandpa at our wedding luncheon, exactly 3 years to the day before he passed away.
Anyway, those are a few of my memories of grandpa Lambert. We have a lot to live up to as we look through the Lambert heritage. Grandpa served in the Navy before going on his mission. He had a 21 gun salute at his graveside service. That was probably the most emotional part of the day to me. My emotions run high when I think of the service that I and others have done because I know that every little bit helps to make the world a better place to live whether it be by protecting liberties or spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks for reading my memories of grandpa Lambert.
