If you know me at all then you know that I am completely nuts about my grandpa, Clyde Hawks! He is my hero and I love that man dearly. This past 4th of July in my hometown I actually performed (for the first time) a song I wrote about my grandpa. So he is a pretty big deal to me and my family. :)
Today he turned 91 years old and so I HAD to dedicate a post to him. He is an extraordinary guy who has lived an amazing life! He was born in 1919 and through his life he has went from riding a horse everywhere to seeing computers and cloning. He was born in such a different time that it is unfathomable to think of the changes he has seen and lived through. For a moment just give thought to all the things he has seen and lived through in his 91 years. He was born the same year that the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I; he saw the rise of the car; The Great Depression; the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge; fought in WWII; Pearl Harbor; the atomic bomb being dropped Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Civil Rights movement; The formation of NASA, The establishing of Alaska and Hawaii as states; The Kennedy assassination; the first moon landing; Martin Luther King Jr.; Vietnam War; fall of the Berlin Wall; Gulf War; Oklahoma City bombing; cloning controversy; September 11th terrorist attacks; and the Iraq war. There is so much more that I didn't mention but how impressive is that list? Stuff that I only know about from history books he lived through, maybe read it in the newspaper, heard it on the radio... wow.
He grew up a farmer. He lost his mother when he was only about 10 years old and worked hard everyday for less than a dollar. He only went as far as the 8th grade and was drafted into WWII when a young man. He lost his dad while overseas and didn't even find out until he got back to the camp where his mail was sent. He was catching up on letters and had just finished reading a letter from his dad saying he was ill when the next letter he picked up was a notice that his father had died. His dad had been buried two weeks earlier and grandpa had had no idea. In the war he was a scout in Burma for Merrill's Marauders and saw a lot of combat. He was awarded the purple heart after being wounded in battle when shrapnel hit and got lodged in his arm. After the war and four years he returned home and shortly after met my grandmother, Norma. She was more than 10 years younger but by that time my grandfather was nearing 30 and in his words " All the girls my age were already married". They married and proceeded to have 4 daughters- Jeanie, Janie, Judy and lastly, my mother, Janet. My grandma passed away in January 1986, the same year I was born and its touching to see how in love grandpa still is with her.
Our family has now grown IMMENSELY (as you can see in the below picture) and is still growing today. Since the photo below we have added a baby or two and a couple husbands including our newest addition, Aaron, who just married my cousin Kayla in June and we will soon be adding my fiance, Micah, in November when we get married.
This all started with a hard working guy named Clyde and a sweet crafty girl named Norma. Grandpa is still here with us and is pretty much the foundation of our family. He is such a special guy and I just feel sorry for anyone who doesn't know him. He is pretty much the best. :)
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