Grandpa Turns 90

This weekend was my grandfather's 90th birthday party in Delaware. And, as expected with the Austin/Athow family, there was plenty of blog material.

I made it halfway up the driveway upon my arrival before my grandpa said it sure would be nice to see all of his grandchildren get married. This is the same grandpa I referenced in my blog about how I'm not getting married anytime soon. Apparently the hint was not received.

The weekend was filled with grandchildren passing around great grandchildren, dogs trying to knock down grandparents, and the occasional excessively-loud phrase yelled by an aunt. When the dogs barked the babies cried and when the babies cried the dogs would bark. My family is not exactly soft-spoken, so the babies and dogs being on board is really just a sign of Austin family unity.

I caught some flak for calling my dad's first cousin a "distant cousin" in my post about the family beach trip. My thought is that if I've never heard of her in the past 23 years, she isn't exactly "near" now, is she? I also had people tell me they've been reading my blog. Which would have been flattering if it wasn't said in a warning tone like I peed on the carpet.

My grandpa also has new reading glasses. And I'm assuming he wasn't wearing any glasses when he picked out the new ones because they are leopard print. So when my grandpa asked my dad to hand him his reading glasses, my dad hung his head in resignation that his father had resorted to jungle cat eyewear.

Jason and Hunter were recruited to the grandparents' basement to see the wall of genealogy books my grandpa has kept for years. Which is kind of like diving into a black hole. I have three 3-inch binders solely about me if that gives you an idea of the amount of material that has collected on this wall. Everyone's books start with a fact sheet about birthplace and parent information. Grandpa handed Jason one of the sheets and told him to fill it out "if he was serious." Austins are not known for subtlety. At first we thought that Hunter would need to be saved after a few minutes, but once he caught sight of Ashley's book he was happy to browse. He flipped through photos of her awkward years (4-17) with glee, taking pictures of every page because each one was better than the last.

The whole weekend was full of shaking my head at the chaos and sharing looks of "oh boy" with my cousins. Luckily my family members are all great sports and great people, and it actually is very cool to think of all the things my grandfather has seen and experienced in his 90 years. So Sunday morning we shared hugs and said goodbyes, and - in true grandpa fashion - as Jason was saying goodbye, my grandpa pulled him close and whispered in his ear, "I'm waiting."