On Wednesday, February 13, I lost my Grandpa. Too much had happened in the past week for his body to overcome. I was able to visit him on Saturday afternoon and again on Tuesday evening and am at peace with his passing. I’ve done my fair share of crying and remembering my times with him.
His name was Mackenzie Steeves. Grandma called him ‘Steeves’. Mackenzie is a cool name, especially in the 1920s. Then a bunch of soccer moms turned it into a girl’s name. Sad. I still think it’s a cool name though.
He and Grandma introduced me to orange creamsicles. They always had one for me when I visited. Grandpa later moved to Klondike bars. I always thought he was cutting edge when it came to his sweets!
I have a fond memory of his bowl of peanuts with those red skins on them. I used to think they were individually wrapped like his Hershey’s kisses. I remember him sitting in front of the television eating his sweets. He would bunch up his shirt or sweater to make this little pouch which would hold his chocolate candy or peanuts. He was so funny like that. One day, the bowl of red-skinned peanuts was gone as he had switched up to regular Planter’s salted peanuts and then to honey roasted. I had my first honey roasted goodness in his living room and it rocked my world. Thanks Grandpa!
Root Beer & Cream Soda! I had my first A&W at their house and always looked forward to a can when I visited. Then
he broke out the A&W cream soda. So good! He switched up to Barq’s sometime in my early 20s I think. I had my first Barq’s at their house too. It was then that I became a Barq’s fan.
Shorty, Casper, & Doc. He always had a dog around. Shorty was the first one I remember and was a huge German Shepard that he kept in a big pen on a concrete slab in his back yard. Shorty used to scare the tar out of me when I was a kid because he was twice my size.
Easter egg hunts at Nunn Street became a Steeves tradition. I think he had more fun hiding the eggs and watching us find them. I have this random memory of us printing some ‘Steeves Annual Easter Egg Hunt’ t-shirts and wearing them on Easter.
I always thought that cable and HBO was a big thing at their house. Cable wasn’t available in our area until I was in high school so he used to tape Fraggle Rock for us on Betamax tapes. Whenever we visited, he always seemed to be watching the Cubs on WGN, some war movie with John Wayne, or old Godzilla movies...the ones where the Japanese was translated into English and the audio didn’t match up with the video. I also remember the family crowding into his living room with him to watch Dallas or Detroit play football on Thanksgiving Day.
Grandpa could always find a sale. 50% off the red tag clearance price is about what he normally paid for things. I could never leave their house without some gadget or article of clothing. And it wasn’t some hand-me-down either. This stuff was Polo and Nautica in their prime and was new off the rack with the sales stickers still attached!
When we visited this past Christmas, he walked me back to his room. This was different because I had only been in his bedroom maybe five times in my life. He went into his closet and pulled down a bag of hats, spread them out on his bed, and asked me to pick one. So I did. It was a white distressed Polo cap. Of course the price tag was still attached with quite a few sale stickers on it. He told me to make sure I got it dirty because it would look better. I told him I would. He walked Donna and me out to my truck. It was kind of cold out so Grandma stayed inside. He lingered in his driveway to wave goodbye like he always did. That was the last time I saw him in good health.
I called him a couple of weeks ago for his birthday. He normally passed the phone over to Grandma since he didn't seem to like talking on the phone much. This time he didn't. He was so chatty and we spoke for about 20 minutes. I’m so glad that I got to talk with him.
I’ll miss you Grandpa.
