grandpa hodgman

cherry flavored pipe smoke & peppermint laced coffee reminds me of my grandpa hodgman. to this day while i hate the smell of coffee, i could drink in the curly clouds from sweet pipe smoke. i'm not even sure he always smoked cherry tobacco but it's what i remember as a very little girl.

{this is one of my ultimate favorite pictures of him & me. i feel like it looks like a picture straight out of the fifties, which unfortunately i was not around for.}

my grandpa ken passed away on friday & he will be sorely missed. he was living in a care center due to his worsening alzheimer's but his physical turn for the worse was extremely sudden. while i feel like we all went through a bit of a mourning process a year ago it is still hard to lose someone dear. he was a good man.

{they were sweethearts for over 62 years.}

during my childhood my grandparents lived in their beloved 'beer can'. when they would come to visit they simply parked in the driveway. we would get so excited to climb up those metal stairs & explore the ins & outs of their trailer. we used to not even be able to get ahold of them for weeks because it was long before the days of internet or mobile phones. now that's freedom. :)

{this is from one of my visits while i lived out in utah for college.} 

my favorite things about my grandpa hodgman is that he was a fiddler, a worker, & a laugher.

he can fix anything & everything & especially when i was younger he seemed to always be fiddling with something. so no i don't mean the music instrument but grandpa was such a fiddler! curious about how things may work he'd take it apart & figure it out. austin reminds me of him in that way.

he is a harder worker than i have ever seen in anyone (other than his son) & i really think he enjoyed being a busy bee. he didn't have much of formal education but he was constantly learning & growing & reading. we studied the benefits of continual self education in one of my classes in college & he was the first person that popped into my head. i so admire him for that.

his laugh. it's hard to describe someone's laugh but it's was hardy & genuine & i don't know a soul that could resist it. even when in old age he didn't always know what he was laughing about, it was a comfort to hear his warm, jovial laugh. his laugh is what i will remember most.

{meeting my baby ellery. i'm SO glad he got to. if you notice that gpa coincidentally is in the same shirt 4-5 years later you'll realize he really was quite a simple man.}

he loved his sweet wife, he fiddled, he worked, & he laughed his way through life. if i can continually challenge myself, enjoy my work just a little bit more, & laugh when i just don't know what else to do i will be better for having known him. 

i love you grandpa hodgman.