My thoughts about Gramp

I didn't realize I didn't put these up yet, but I wanted to say a few things about my grandpa.

Gramp was a character; to explain him, I would always mention his "Fraternal Order of Geezers", which had three rules for membership:
1. you have to be at least somewhat interesting
2. you have to be at least somewhat intelligent
3. you have to be able to pay for your own lunch

He always had that sort of dry but warm-hearted sense of humor about everything he did. Sometimes I feel like that I've got that sense of humor myself, so I started thinking about other aspects that I hope I inherited from him:
- a healthy dose of denial of bad things in life
- a love of skiing
- a very logical mind (as I follow in his footsteps a little bit by starting a career in engineering)
- the ability to cut through nonsense and do whatever the hell he decides to do. My mom wrote a poem about him at one point that ended with the line "he taught us we can do anything."
- incredible money managing skills. He never made a ton, but he invested well. I remember one time he counted up everything he owned (including his dog, which he valued at $300) and found out that he was quite literally a millionaire. A $1.3 millionaire, in fact. Although, in his words, "having a million dollars isn't what it used to be."
- creativity! He wrote a novel! It never got published (I don't think) but it was close. He also made great Halloween costumes, and a remote-controlled dinosaur.
- adventurousness, both in terms of travel (I'm not sure where all he traveled to, but he traveled a bit) and life in general. Even in his old age, he would buy computers and stuff.
- ability to function despite handicaps (like not being able to see very well)
- probably most importantly, a sense of happiness with life. My mom recalls how he always whistled while he worked, quite literally.

If I've got half of these, I'd be thrilled. He was quite a renaissance guy, loving, and happy, and there's not much higher praise in my mind.