Margaret and Francois on the campus of the University of Wyoming, August 2009.
#11. They both turned 85 this year. My grandpa speaks four languages. My grandma knows more about politics than most of my friends. They lived in South America and all over the Middle East and sent their kids to boarding school in Rome. Grandpa still shovels his sidewalks every time it snows in winter—and they live in Wyoming. My grandmother drinks sherry and can chat as easily with high-ranking government officials as my friends. Grandpa was appointed to ambassadorships under Carter and Reagan. Once, when I was 15 and really wanted to go to Europe really badly under this student program, and my parents couldn't pay for it, I wrote an earnest letter to my grandparents about why I wanted to go and they paid my entire way without question. When they're in DC for the holidays my grandpa speaks Spanish with my sister, and French and Italian with both of us. My grandma was a complete and utter babe. Her family owns half of Laramie. They drove us to Yellowstone when I was 15 and during the eight-hour drive quizzed us on the capitals of African countries.
In short, they rule. Seeing them in Laramie this summer was one of the highlights of my year. I'm a very lucky granddaughter.
>> You can see the full list of everything I'm thankful for over the past year here
>> I'm writing about 30 things I plan to do in my 30th year. You can see those here.
They do sound like some pretty awesome grandparents! The linguistic capabilities of your gramps remind me of mine, who could speak something like 8 languages and was literate in 4 or 5 (English, Italian, Hebrew, Polish and Arabic, I believe) of them, which was absolutely gobsmacking. And this also reminds me that I haven't been to my family cabin in Wyoming in several years and that I need to make it out there sometime soon. Done rambling now.
Posted by: Drew | December 23, 2009 at 11:24 PM
This post makes me want to meet your grandparents.
Posted by: Diplodocus.wordpress.com | December 24, 2009 at 01:24 AM
Lucky girl! Your grandparents are adorable!
Posted by: CCooper | December 24, 2009 at 10:21 AM