Big G.G's Birthday and Boat

Yesterday was my Dad's 72nd birthday. He's affectionately know as Big G.G. This nickname came about after my grandson's came into this world. They are lucky little boys in that they have several older generations of relatives; 6 grandparents, 5 great grandparents, and 2 great-great grandparents. We had to come up with different "names" for all of us to differentiate. Since they couldn't say "Grandma and Grandpa" for a few years, my Bob and I are just lovingly called "Bob" and "Nina" by our grandsons. And ever since they heard Bob's mother call him "Bobby", that is the new name given to him by the grandsons. We think it's so cute. Well, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa was just too much of a mouthful for the little guys, so their names were shortened to "Little G.G" for my mother, Great Grandma, and "Big G.G." for my dad, Great Grandpa.

It just so happened that Big G.G's boat was delivered to our dock on his birthday. The day "Big G.G's" boat comes back for the summer is always an exciting day. We have the boat dock, but the boat belongs to my dad. We live very close to the Marina and each day now boats are coming out of winter storage and being delivered back to their rightful docks. Logan and Landen, the precious little ones, had spent the night on Friday with Bobby and Nina. Their mother, Melissa, had just come to pick them up when Big G.G came by to say he was going to the Marina to pick up his boat and bring to the dock. Logan and Melissa went along as Landen and I stood on the deck waiting for Big G.G and his boat and two passengers to show up on the lake.
Just as we saw the boat coming across the lake, the dark cloud right above us opened up and it poured for about 5 minutes. We ran in the house and watched the docking procedure from the window, and the Skipper and his Crew got soaked.
Now if I can get my Bob to get my blue kayak out of our storage shed for me, then summer can officially start.

My dad is the perfect father and grandfather. He loves to be around all his kids. We are all so lucky to have such an active, healthy, young father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He's always supportive, even at times that his support is not deserved; we're always loved unconditionally by him, even at times that we may not be that lovable; and he's always forgiving, even when we probably shouldn't be forgiven. I know my grandparents and mother would agree that he's also a wonderful son and husband.

Dad is very intelligent, extremely successful and accomplished, and admired for his community volunteer work. I'm sure the whole family, though, would agree that his OCD (obsessive/compulsive disorder) and his ADD (attention deficit disorder) keep him from perfection. But I must say that these two traits seem to run in the family and we all must embrace these traits and make them work. We can't help it.

Happy Birthday, Big G.G. and I hope you're around for a long time, long enough to become Big G.G.G.