Happy Papa Day!
Dear Oliver,
On Mother's Day, I taught you a little bit about your Grandma Cook. She's pretty cool, isn't she? This Father's Day, I thought it appropriate to give you a list of things you ought to know about your Grandpa, Marc Cook.
Also, I didn't get him a present for Father's Day and his 61st birthday, so you're kind of helping me out here.
1. He has Tori Teeth and a concave soft palate. To us, it means he has "shark teeth" and permanent peanut butter mouth. He'll let you stick your (clean) finger in his mouth to feel. He theorizes that it's because his side of the family grew up in West Virginia and maybe married each other.
2. He's pretty handsome. He finally got new glasses a couple of years ago, because he'd worn the same glasses for about 20 years. Heaven knows they don't make him see the computer screen any easier.
3. He's very patient. He taught your Grandma Cook how to drive a stick shift. (By the time you read this, that's a now non-existent car with a manual transmission). Once you grow up a little more, you'll understand that teaching your Grandma anything takes some pretty deep breathing exercises.
4. He's also pretty impatient. But only when he's been waiting for something or is hungry and tired. One time, while waiting for over a half hour in the Watervliet Taco Bell drive-thru line (stuck between cars), he pretty much lost it. When he finally made it up to the window, he received his burrito calmly and then threw it right back in the window, cursed up a storm and drove away like a bat outta hell.
5. He has two sisters and a brother. Sadly, you won't ever meet one of his sisters, Kay, or your Great Grandparents Cook. They have all passed away from cancer. His sister, Jill, is a schoolteacher in Hudsonville and his brother, Jon used to be Mayor of Allegan.
17. His favorite band is the Beatles. One of my favorite memories of your Grandpa is when he picked me up from college freshman year for Thanksgiving break and we drove down Pucker Road in the Corvette blaring Abbey Road and singing at the tops of our lungs.
18. Your grandpa believes in music almost as much as he believes in God. He plays the guitar, always drums on the steering wheel and sings the most beautiful harmony to classic rock and gospel music.
19. He also has a really mean whistle and is the last man on earth who knows how to really dance.
20. Your Grandpa and I danced to Beatles' "Let It Be" at your father's and my wedding. At the guitar solo, we split apart and danced like crazed monkeys. It was awesome. He was nervous to do it, but I was feeling pretty sad so he did it to cheer me up.
21. His favorite movies are "The Godfather" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." We'll watch them with Grandpa when you're older.
22. Both of these movies have instilled in him a deep suspicion of sitting in restaurants with his back to the door.
23. His favorite TV show, I think, will always be the Andy Griffith Show. He's very good at whistling the opening song.
24. When he was younger, he broke a bone when riding his bike down a steep hill. His leg got caught in the wheel and rrrrriiiiiip! there went his bone right through his skin.
25. Once, he fell from a loft to the floor of a barn. When your Great Grandma asked his friend where he was, his friend said that he was asleep in the barn. Great Grandma thought that was a bit strange and went to check on him. He was unconscious.
26. Another time, Grandma found him floating face down in a fountain at Holland State Park. He had wanted the coins at the bottom, so got in to retrieve them. The bottom of the fountain was really slimy and he kept slipping...slipped until he hit his head.
27. When he was older, he got shot by some thugs while riding through South Bend one night. He had gotten cocky with his driving and pulled out in front of them. Still has shrapnel in his knee. Go ahead, touch it. He'll let you; he's proud of being a tough guy.
28. Those very legs are his one vain point. They are stick-thin and lily white. He can't do anything about their girth, but every summer he religiously pours on the self-tanning lotion from the bottom of his drawers to the top of his socks.
29. Summer is his favorite season because a) he doesn't have to plow snow, b) he gets work and c) he gets to spend time at the lake cottage.
30. This may be his favorite spot on earth.
31. This is where he drinks his favorite beer (Oberon), putters around, drives the boat, builds bonfires, relaxes and puts meat on the grill.
32. In the past ten years, he's gotten much better at not letting the meat cook too long.
33. He loves cooking meat on the grill (in particular, beef loin) so much that a coupla' weeks ago he told me (in all seriousness and without prodding) that he would send me a picture of the season's first beef loin.
34. Your Grandpa quit college to work with his dad at Great Lakes Drilling Company.
35. In 1979, he split off and became the owner and operator of Cook Drilling Company.
36. In third grade, I was asked to write about my dad. I wrote, "My dad drills wells. He says that [its] hard work. I guess [it] hard work because he comes home dirty and sweaty from drilling." He was really proud of me.
40. He has had cancer 5 times. The first time was in 1993 and he had his kidney removed. He'll show you the scar. In 2001, he was diagnosed with Non Hodgekins Lymphoma. This was during Mama's senior year of college and her drama teacher allowed her to take off classes on Friday so that she could sit with him while he had chemo. He was cancer free for a bit and sometime after Mama had moved to New York, they successfully removed tumors from Grandpa's ureter. After that, they found some spots on his bladder and removed them. Later, he had to have radiation when they found some nasties in his chest under his heart.
41. When the doctor told him that taking out his lymph nodes around his groin would cause excessive bruising, he told the doctor that it would really mess with his "dancing" gig. She laughed about that for days and told all of her other doctor friends.
42. Every January, he stops drinking for the month. He finds it cleansing.
45. He lives dangerously.
46. Your grandpa knows how to fly Ultralight planes. He took me up once when I was really little. Even then it didn't seem safe to fly without doors and be able (but not allowed) to reach out and touch the tops of trees. My stomach still travels up to the back of my throat each time I think of it.
47. He has a wicked gag reflex. Grandpa was taking care of your Aunt Jessica while she was napping one day when she was really little. He came into her room and walked into a haze of stank because she had woken up and found that her poo was a wonderful medium. It was all over the wall, crib, and her hair and body. Grandpa, who strongly considered leaving her there until Grandma came home, plucked her up by the back of her onesie and hosed her down in the shower, gagging all the way. He threw her into the playpen and then attacked the room. Aaaand that's the last time he changed a diaper.
48. He has a reserve of country colloquialisms for use in every circumstance.
50. His favorite treats are rather unusual: peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches, liver, pickled herring and chicken giblets.
51. He hates yogurt.
52. He is distrustful of most waiters and won't eat food if he thinks they could possibly spit in it. One time, when he and Grandma were visiting your father and I in New York, we went out to breakfast around 2am. We had been up...drinking milk. We were all giddy...from all the milk...and starved, but Grandpa wouldn't eat his breakfast because he thought the waiter was looking at him funny. He told us that there was "no way in HELL [he was] going to eat that." He went to bed hungry rather than take the chance.
53. His first dog with Grandma was Shamus.
56. He tried to quit smoking many times in his life. It finally stuck when you and your cousins were born. We are all very proud of him. Your Aunts and I bought him and Grandma a trip up north to celebrate this along with their 60th birthdays.
57. He's very generous. When I started driving, I got into three accidents. Luckily, I wasn't hurt, but it did cost a lot of money to make the cars drivable again. After telling me how disappointed he was in me (gah!), he paid for the damages without another word. I knew it was expensive, though. When I got my first real job, I paid him back every penny. Man, did that feel good!
58. Chocolate-covered cherries are the official first present of Christmas at the Cook household and they go to Grandpa. Your Grandma and Aunt Courtney secretly sneak them over the holidays, but Grandpa pretends not to notice.
59. Your aunts and I all call Grandpa if we have a decision to make or if we're upset. Talking on the phone with him for even a few minutes will melt all of your sorrows. He has such a unique and descriptive way with words that will leave you in STITCHES.
60. He's also very understanding and clear headed when dealing with other people's problems. Be prepared, however: if you call him crying, he may jump on a plane to come get you wherever you are.
61. Your Grandpa has a lot of friends because he IS a good friend. His kind and thoughtful words mean the world to everyone who gets to talk with him.
62. There are probably hundreds of people who would stand up for him in a fight. I would. So would your Dad. And we already know your Grandma would because she's tough as nails.
63. If there's a fight between Grandpa and snakes, the snakes would win. He hates snakes.
64. Even though Grandpa loved raising girly daughters, sometimes he really appreciated when any of us girls got into something "boyish." One Valentine's Day he gave Aunt Jessica and Aunt Courtney necklaces. He gave me a remote-controlled car.
On Mother's Day, I taught you a little bit about your Grandma Cook. She's pretty cool, isn't she? This Father's Day, I thought it appropriate to give you a list of things you ought to know about your Grandpa, Marc Cook.
Also, I didn't get him a present for Father's Day and his 61st birthday, so you're kind of helping me out here.
1. He has Tori Teeth and a concave soft palate. To us, it means he has "shark teeth" and permanent peanut butter mouth. He'll let you stick your (clean) finger in his mouth to feel. He theorizes that it's because his side of the family grew up in West Virginia and maybe married each other.
2. He's pretty handsome. He finally got new glasses a couple of years ago, because he'd worn the same glasses for about 20 years. Heaven knows they don't make him see the computer screen any easier.
3. He's very patient. He taught your Grandma Cook how to drive a stick shift. (By the time you read this, that's a now non-existent car with a manual transmission). Once you grow up a little more, you'll understand that teaching your Grandma anything takes some pretty deep breathing exercises.
4. He's also pretty impatient. But only when he's been waiting for something or is hungry and tired. One time, while waiting for over a half hour in the Watervliet Taco Bell drive-thru line (stuck between cars), he pretty much lost it. When he finally made it up to the window, he received his burrito calmly and then threw it right back in the window, cursed up a storm and drove away like a bat outta hell.
5. He has two sisters and a brother. Sadly, you won't ever meet one of his sisters, Kay, or your Great Grandparents Cook. They have all passed away from cancer. His sister, Jill, is a schoolteacher in Hudsonville and his brother, Jon used to be Mayor of Allegan.
Jill, Kay, Grandpa
Jon, Jill, LouAnn, Grandpa, Balser
Balser, Kay and LouAnn
Jon and Grandpa
6. At Allegan High School, your grandpa: Set the school record for the Mile Relay team (with Kevin Nalls, Rich Davis and Pat Nahan) and it was still unbroken as of 2006;
7. Set the school records for football touchdown passes and passing yardage as quarterback;
8. Led the football team to their first conference championship in 14 years and was a major reason they got the #1 ranking in Kalamazoo Gazette's area ratings; and
9. Was the captain of the basketball team and tied the school records for most points scored in a basketball game AND in a basketball season.
10. In 2006, was inducted into the Allegan High School Hall of Fame alongside his good buddies, Biff McIntire and Jim Morgan. So yeah, if you're anything like him, you may end up famous.
11. His nickname in high school was "Stretch."
12. He's still pretty athletic.
11. His nickname in high school was "Stretch."
12. He's still pretty athletic.
13. Grandpa went on to play quarterback at Wheaton College for a year. He then moved to Grand Rapids Baptist College (now Cornerstone University).
Read the underlined bit.
14. At Grand Rapids Baptist, he played basketball for two years, but also proudly went multiple weeks in a row on the college prayer list.
15. He says he spent so much time getting prayed for because he had a television and rock 'n roll records in his room, which were illegal. He left college because a) those religious zealots pilfered his Led Zepplin and Donovan albums and b) they flunked him out of a course that he was acing because his damn sideburns were too long.
16. Whenever probed about anything else for which he may have been on the prayer list, he pleads the fifth. But you won't - you'll tell your Mama the truth every time she asks if you've been smoking pot.
17. His favorite band is the Beatles. One of my favorite memories of your Grandpa is when he picked me up from college freshman year for Thanksgiving break and we drove down Pucker Road in the Corvette blaring Abbey Road and singing at the tops of our lungs.
18. Your grandpa believes in music almost as much as he believes in God. He plays the guitar, always drums on the steering wheel and sings the most beautiful harmony to classic rock and gospel music.
19. He also has a really mean whistle and is the last man on earth who knows how to really dance.
20. Your Grandpa and I danced to Beatles' "Let It Be" at your father's and my wedding. At the guitar solo, we split apart and danced like crazed monkeys. It was awesome. He was nervous to do it, but I was feeling pretty sad so he did it to cheer me up.
21. His favorite movies are "The Godfather" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." We'll watch them with Grandpa when you're older.
23. His favorite TV show, I think, will always be the Andy Griffith Show. He's very good at whistling the opening song.
24. When he was younger, he broke a bone when riding his bike down a steep hill. His leg got caught in the wheel and rrrrriiiiiip! there went his bone right through his skin.
25. Once, he fell from a loft to the floor of a barn. When your Great Grandma asked his friend where he was, his friend said that he was asleep in the barn. Great Grandma thought that was a bit strange and went to check on him. He was unconscious.
26. Another time, Grandma found him floating face down in a fountain at Holland State Park. He had wanted the coins at the bottom, so got in to retrieve them. The bottom of the fountain was really slimy and he kept slipping...slipped until he hit his head.
27. When he was older, he got shot by some thugs while riding through South Bend one night. He had gotten cocky with his driving and pulled out in front of them. Still has shrapnel in his knee. Go ahead, touch it. He'll let you; he's proud of being a tough guy.
28. Those very legs are his one vain point. They are stick-thin and lily white. He can't do anything about their girth, but every summer he religiously pours on the self-tanning lotion from the bottom of his drawers to the top of his socks.
29. Summer is his favorite season because a) he doesn't have to plow snow, b) he gets work and c) he gets to spend time at the lake cottage.
31. This is where he drinks his favorite beer (Oberon), putters around, drives the boat, builds bonfires, relaxes and puts meat on the grill.
32. In the past ten years, he's gotten much better at not letting the meat cook too long.
Pappy and Grandpa
33. He loves cooking meat on the grill (in particular, beef loin) so much that a coupla' weeks ago he told me (in all seriousness and without prodding) that he would send me a picture of the season's first beef loin.
A comparison shot between a 2 month old Mallory and a beef loin that feeds 10.
34. Your Grandpa quit college to work with his dad at Great Lakes Drilling Company.
35. In 1979, he split off and became the owner and operator of Cook Drilling Company.
36. In third grade, I was asked to write about my dad. I wrote, "My dad drills wells. He says that [its] hard work. I guess [it] hard work because he comes home dirty and sweaty from drilling." He was really proud of me.
37. Your grandpa has very ticklish feet, just like your Dad. One of our favorite games when we were little was to jump on Grandpa and tickle him. One time I accidently jumped on his secret no-no place and the game forever ended.
38. He also used to tickle us with his unshaven face. He always had a mustache, goatee or beard. The one time I remember seeing him clean-shaven, I almost didn't recognize him.
Clean-shaven and young.
39. We're related to Daniel Boone. Do you see any resemblance?
40. He has had cancer 5 times. The first time was in 1993 and he had his kidney removed. He'll show you the scar. In 2001, he was diagnosed with Non Hodgekins Lymphoma. This was during Mama's senior year of college and her drama teacher allowed her to take off classes on Friday so that she could sit with him while he had chemo. He was cancer free for a bit and sometime after Mama had moved to New York, they successfully removed tumors from Grandpa's ureter. After that, they found some spots on his bladder and removed them. Later, he had to have radiation when they found some nasties in his chest under his heart.
41. When the doctor told him that taking out his lymph nodes around his groin would cause excessive bruising, he told the doctor that it would really mess with his "dancing" gig. She laughed about that for days and told all of her other doctor friends.
42. Every January, he stops drinking for the month. He finds it cleansing.
43. He has a lot of hobbies. He will pursue them obsessively until he tires of them, and then he'll drop them like that. Once he bought a whole course of Time-Life How-To books. They sat in boxes in the basement once he got a subscription to the Michigan History Magazine.
44. He has always had a motorcycle. And the only motorcycles that mean shit are Harleys.
45. He lives dangerously.
46. Your grandpa knows how to fly Ultralight planes. He took me up once when I was really little. Even then it didn't seem safe to fly without doors and be able (but not allowed) to reach out and touch the tops of trees. My stomach still travels up to the back of my throat each time I think of it.
47. He has a wicked gag reflex. Grandpa was taking care of your Aunt Jessica while she was napping one day when she was really little. He came into her room and walked into a haze of stank because she had woken up and found that her poo was a wonderful medium. It was all over the wall, crib, and her hair and body. Grandpa, who strongly considered leaving her there until Grandma came home, plucked her up by the back of her onesie and hosed her down in the shower, gagging all the way. He threw her into the playpen and then attacked the room. Aaaand that's the last time he changed a diaper.
48. He has a reserve of country colloquialisms for use in every circumstance.
- It is always raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock.
- If she's ugly, you can bet she'd make a freight train take a dirt road.
- The only measuring stick of fright that's worth anything is a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
- Anything that's dry (the weather, food, laundry) will likely be as dry as a popcorn fart.
What a pretty necklace!
50. His favorite treats are rather unusual: peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches, liver, pickled herring and chicken giblets.
51. He hates yogurt.
52. He is distrustful of most waiters and won't eat food if he thinks they could possibly spit in it. One time, when he and Grandma were visiting your father and I in New York, we went out to breakfast around 2am. We had been up...drinking milk. We were all giddy...from all the milk...and starved, but Grandpa wouldn't eat his breakfast because he thought the waiter was looking at him funny. He told us that there was "no way in HELL [he was] going to eat that." He went to bed hungry rather than take the chance.
53. His first dog with Grandma was Shamus.
54. Then he got JR from down the street. JR kept getting all the neighborhood dogs pregnant, so we ended up with Kelsey too. When JR had been sick a while, Grandma took him in to be put down on the same day that Grandpa took us girls to an day-long introduction to the internet seminar because she knew Grandpa wouldn't be able to handle it.
55. Then it was Maddie. We miss her.
56. He tried to quit smoking many times in his life. It finally stuck when you and your cousins were born. We are all very proud of him. Your Aunts and I bought him and Grandma a trip up north to celebrate this along with their 60th birthdays.
57. He's very generous. When I started driving, I got into three accidents. Luckily, I wasn't hurt, but it did cost a lot of money to make the cars drivable again. After telling me how disappointed he was in me (gah!), he paid for the damages without another word. I knew it was expensive, though. When I got my first real job, I paid him back every penny. Man, did that feel good!
58. Chocolate-covered cherries are the official first present of Christmas at the Cook household and they go to Grandpa. Your Grandma and Aunt Courtney secretly sneak them over the holidays, but Grandpa pretends not to notice.
59. Your aunts and I all call Grandpa if we have a decision to make or if we're upset. Talking on the phone with him for even a few minutes will melt all of your sorrows. He has such a unique and descriptive way with words that will leave you in STITCHES.
60. He's also very understanding and clear headed when dealing with other people's problems. Be prepared, however: if you call him crying, he may jump on a plane to come get you wherever you are.
61. Your Grandpa has a lot of friends because he IS a good friend. His kind and thoughtful words mean the world to everyone who gets to talk with him.
A letter he wrote me and my Alacrity Players group before our first show
63. If there's a fight between Grandpa and snakes, the snakes would win. He hates snakes.
64. Even though Grandpa loved raising girly daughters, sometimes he really appreciated when any of us girls got into something "boyish." One Valentine's Day he gave Aunt Jessica and Aunt Courtney necklaces. He gave me a remote-controlled car.
65. When I was in first grade, Cook Drilling Company sponsored my Optimist soccer team. I didn't really know what it all meant, I just liked playing in the field in front of Evangelical Free Church. When we had our first game, all those kids coming at me scared me so much that I sat down on the field and burst into tears. Your grandpa was so mortified that he told Grandma to pick me up and to meet him at the car.
66. He loves his sons-in-law.
Uncle Brian, Grandpa, Dad, Uncle Jay
67. He's quite a sap. He makes fun of your Grandma for not throwing anything out, but has kept every single lame desk toy your Aunts and I bought him from our elementary school Christmas shoppe.
68. He would do anything for those he loves. He played dress-up for about an hour with your cousin Mallory when she was 18 months old and kept bringing him shoes.
But, Oliver, the one thing you should know about your Grandpa Cook is this: he loves you and your cousins more than anything else in this world.
Grandpa, Kenzie, Santa, Mallory, Grandma
Grandpa and Mallory
Grandpa and Kenzie
Grandpa and Oliver
Grandpa and all three
Oliver, there's absolutely no way any words on earth can describe how much your Grandpa means to me and this family, or how much he's going to come to mean to you. I hope, though, that the emotions behind all these words are enough to give you some semblance of an idea.
You should be so proud that God picked him out to be your Grandpa Cook. I'm so glad he's my Dad.
You should be so proud that God picked him out to be your Grandpa Cook. I'm so glad he's my Dad.
Happy Father's Day, Papa!
Comments
Sidenote: When I was in the hospital last year, your dad was the first person (non-fam I guess) to send an email to Luke. We both cried when we read his words of support.
Sidenote #2: ref #53 - Luke wants to name our child Seamus. So maybe he will be named after your dad's first dog. Ha.