The Fisherman's Dude Ranch.... somewhere there are more family photos of the young cousins fishing here with Grandma and Grandpa...

 

The Fishermen's Dude Ranch Des Plaines Illinois 
closed in 1999


my grandparents were simple folk
they each ran their own businesses
my grandfather was a house painter
my grandmother owned a beauty shop by her own name... Jewel's

my grandparents loved two things
fishing and their grandchildren
it is hard to say which they loved more
yet it is clear that they had love for these two things


before my grandparents retired in Fort Myers Florida
((to be closer to a variety of fishing spots))
Buccaneer Estates in North Fort Myers
before they relocated
our family visits were to suburban Illinois 

maybe two visits a year...
we would drive from where our family was living at the time to my grandparent's home in Park Ridge
the drives were long
the vacations were family vacations with some National Lampoon style mishaps along the way

snowstorms... flat tires... dad trying to "make good time"
there was one year when we were headed back to Stone Mountain Georgia
my dad noticed a smell
the car smelled like fish

my dad stopped the car...
I had collected fish eyes from various fish of varying species and varying sizes
my dad being a scientist should have appreciated
but in that dad of the seventies sort of way
there was no understanding just scolding

the back of the car smelled like fish because the fish eyes I had stored in the freeze after collecting them had started to thaw
the smell entered the car and coated everything in the trunk
my dad was not the most patient man
he was livid

maybe if he had noticed me that week... he would have seen I had tried to temper my boredom with the fish eye collection project
there were eyes from Walleye and other larger fish that my grandparents had caught on out of town fishing trips

ah... memories...

I hope my boys remember more than me yelling at them... 
or 
kicking them in the butt bone with my wing tip
okay... I never kicked my sons in the ass... that was my dad's trademark move

GO TO YOUR ROOM!
and then...
he would kick us in the ass
what an asshole... 
oh... sorry...
he was my favorite dad


a few shots from a Christmas visit in the 70's

East Ave in Park Ridge Illinois 

my grandfather was the best grandfather ever
while also being mean as a snake
and
stubborn as a mule
disowned me when I was 12
but was the best grandfather a kid could have till he died when I was approaching 16
while still holding his notion of disowning me

nice memories pre-divorce
memories