100 Day Project 2021

Monday, September 15, 2014

A Portrait



A Portrait Of My Grandfather

I called him Papaw Culps.
He called me Cafe (Kafee).

My grandfather lived to be 94. He never changed, just aged. He was a small, thin man who was hardworking, full of energy, full of fun, and full of love for his family.

I gathered some of his things together to show you who he was.
  • an old wooden cigar box - He didn't smoke cigars, but he kept little bits of his life in them.
  • Gideon Bible - He was a strong Christian.
  • oil can and wrench - He was always tinkering on something or building something.
  • glass bottle - He had a bottle tree in his front yard that was even featured in the newspaper one time.
  • backhoe belt buckle - He worked in construction, usually operating a large crane. He was part of the crew that built several bridges in Arkansas.
  • coin purse and lucky coin - He always had the coin purse in his pocket.
  • cuff links - He probably only wore them on Sundays. Papa was always in work pants and a long sleeve shirt even in the hot humid summer.
  • purple rock - He was a collector. He had large crystal rocks around his flower beds.
  • collapsible metal drinking cup - It was dented and well used. My guess is he kept it on the dash of his truck for use on the job site.
My favorite memories with Papa were when he loaded us all up in a large wagon behind the old tractor and took us for a ride around my Uncle's land. Sometimes we picking blackberries from the wagon, sometimes we headed down to the pond to fish, and later we shared the ride with our children.




beyondlayers

14 comments:

  1. What lovely pieces of your grandfather's life! So many things to make him feel very present. I love that Ford oil can!

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  2. What a wonderful tribute to your grandfather. I love how you called up his life and made me "see" him through the items and their stories.

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  3. That was wonderful. You really gave us a sense of who your Grandpa was. I enjoyed it very much.

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  4. I love this grouping of objects and the light in your photo is beautiful. This is a lovely memorial and tribute to your grandfather.

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  5. Very special things and great memories. I can see why you want to write them all down. I love all those little pieces that tell the story of their lives.

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  6. Wonderful memories! I really love the wrench and oil can...wonderful textures!

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  7. I also love the wrench, shop rag and oil can image.

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  8. What a beautiful portrait of your Grandfather, both written and visual. How wonderful that all these little treasures can trigger such lovely memories.

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  9. I have yet to do one of the be still lessons, but when I saw this one it reminded me of something I did similar a while ago with my grandmothers diary and tea cup and saucer. I need to do this again with new purpose. This is great!

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  10. Such beautiful memories - lovely images and so touching.

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  11. he sounds like a wonderful, solid man. love that you have so many of his treasures!

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  12. What a wonderful portrait! I wish I had a chance to get to know my grandfathers better....

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  13. These are beautiful and I love your story.

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  14. A lovely portrait. Your post makes it obvious how fond of him you were.

    My dad always used a coin purse too--he said it kept the pockets of his pants from wearing out too fast.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!!