Grandpa

I have been slacking on my own blog. I am currently keeping up my sister's blog (Trio #3) while she is on a Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My BFF Brenna writes on her blog all.the.time. It makes me feel like even more of a slacker! LOL

I have been living with my Grandpa for the last 6 months. It has definitely had its ups and downs. Trio #1 and I were talking about how old people are very stubborn. The reason why is because they have been in charge for at least 50 years, and have been their own bosses. Then they start to diminish, and then we (their kids, grandkids, care takers, etc) want to start making decisions for them and want to take away that judgement that they have had over their own lives. Then they start to fight it, and then it turns into something ugly.

Now that I am starting to understand that, I am starting to know how best to have a good time with Grandpa. :o]

Yesterday, we were sitting down eating dessert. I had made apple pie! (Don't you just love fall?!) He was eating his with sharp cheddar cheese, and I was eating mine with ice cream. I asked him how long he had been eating his pie with cheese, and that launched stories about his childhood. {Before I tell you about what he shared, let me tell you that he is almost 89 years old, and sharp as a tack!}

He grew up in American Fork, UT. His dad worked at a creamery (that is no longer there...) and so Grandpa started working there when he was 13, only for the summers. {Year 1936}. He was on the milk truck. They drove around to many farms and were in charge of collecting cans of milk. Sometimes they would collect 2 cans from the farmers, but on the larger farms, they would collect up to 10 cans. The truck that they drove could hold about 100 cans of milk. Grandpa said that they would start at 3:30 am and would finish around 1:30 pm. He would do this everyday during the summer. 

After collecting the milk from the famers, they would take it back to the creamery. The creamery workers would test the butter fat of the milk. The higher the butter fat, the more money the farmers would get.

Then when he was about 15, he moved up in his responsibilities, and was moved to CHEESE! He was in charge of making cheese shapes (?) and then wrapping them up to let them cure. He told me that there were three different shapes. One was a three-pound block. One was about 15 pounds, and then the last one was a 50-lb wheel. The wheel was about 12 inches in diameter, and was about 8-10 inches thick. 

The cheese would be shaped, and then wrapped, and then put in a cellar, and Grandpa was in charge of flipping the cheese so that the water wouldn't settle in the bottom and cause the cheese to separate. He said they would flip the wheels every 5-6 weeks. The longer that the cheese cures, the sharper it becomes. He told me that he ate some cheese that had been curing for 45 years! He said it was super sharp!! 

During High School, he still worked in the creamery. They made cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, and butter. His favorite, though, was still working with the cheese. 

Now, most of the farms are not there. Most of the orchards are no longer there, but now the fields are houses. The house that he lived in was right across the street from the creamery. Again, both places are gone. He said that there is a Domino's Pizza where his house used to be. 

I'm so glad that I get to live with him. I really respect him and the life that he has lived. I know that he is lonely since my Grammy passed away about 15 months ago, but I hope that me being there with him makes things a little easier!