Grandfather's Wisdom

I have been living with my 92 yr old grandfather for about 8 weeks now and learning more and more about our family and his life each day. We have dinner together and spend time watching TV together on a regular basis. He's had a long and full life and is wonderful company... though I don't quite know what to do with some of the things he says.

Occasionally I'll get to see a tender side of him where he says nice things to me and offers to make me more comfortable and feed me about a dozen times a day. He usually asks "is there enough heat up there for you?" Referring to the guest house where I am staying--even when it's 100 degrees outside. I always enjoy when he talks about Margaret, my Grandmother, who passed away about 14 years ago. One of our most precious moments was when I was waiting with him outside a restaurant and he said "it's nice holding your hand." It's nice holding your hand too, Grandpa.

He lacks most of his short term memory but is still really quick to respond and has a pretty keen sense of humor; though off color at times (even though he knows better). Most of the time he'll ask how my parents and sister are just to check in with the world. And I regularly get asked "So how many boyfriends do you have." (Sometimes a few times in the same day). Most of the time I joke and tell him "oh you know, a half a dozen or so--one for each day of the week..." or "guys are trouble..." or the like. He has some responses to my "predicament" that just make me laugh and I thought I'd share them with you...

"set traps"
"put a sign out in the yard... or somewhere in town" saying "single female"
"Bait them..." to which I responded "nobody's biting" and he said "they're over-fed."
"Well tell them!"
"They don't know what they're missing"
and the like...

I hardly know what to do with him and his suggestions most of the time. Though I have to give him some credit because he was happily married for over 50 years to my grandmother and has shown me one of the most beautiful examples of devotion and commitment while my grandmother was hospitalized for four or five years. He visited her every day to feed her lunch, tell her about the family and make sure she knows she was still special. So even though he seems to make the whole "search" so simple and lighthearted, he is a large part of the reason I'm a little picky--sorry guys ;)