A rough day today...

Something I wrote for the book my mom is making:
Grandpa was always a pushover for little kids. No matter how gruff or grumpy he wanted to be, a little kid would always have the upper hand. This was evident in the way he'd always let me (or any of us grandkids) climb into that big brown chair with the brass rivets to sit on his lap for hours on end. He was always inviting us on to his lap, no matter how many of us there were. Grandpa could fit 3-4 kids on that lap!! I remember him taking us on trips to see grandma at her cafe and he'd always get us a donut even when he had protested the entire drive over there that we weren't getting anything to eat, just going to say hi to grandma. The biggest evidence of little kids getting what they want was the candy drawer! It was never empty and if it was lacking in a specific candy, the next time we came over it was magically there. Grandpa would override moms & dads to let us have "just a mug full" of m&m's, or "just one more" snickers bar. Grandpa remained a pushover even with his great-grandson. Even though his memory had started to fade and he was growing very tired in his old age, he lit up brighter than the Central Park Christmas tree when he held my son, Wyatt. That big old tough guy melted and smiled the biggest smile I'd seen since his wedding to Fran. He coo'd and talked and made faces at Wyatt for hours. He reminisced about the times he used to hold me and play with me just like that. He didn't want to share with anyone and it was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. That was the last time I saw my grandpa--the grandpa I remember from my growing up years who loved openly and was absolutely enchanted by the little babies that made up his family.