Building and Bonding with My Dad

 I have mentioned before that that my kitchen (or lack there of) has been a source of stress for us. We have done a lot of things to save money~ a few of which we ended up throwing in the towel and paying the professionals to come in and save the day.  I will save those lovely stories for the final reveal (which should come sooner than later... God-willing!).
One thing that we did 100% on our own was our new walk-in pantry or "Costco Closet" as I like to refer to it. This was a MAJOR bonus to getting our new kitchen, especially because we have four kids that I think have tapeworms.  I say that because they are all pretty thin but you'd never know it if you saw what they ate each day.  We can't wait to have a door for our pantry so we can put a lock on it (and yes... I'm serious) to keep them out.  Especially sweet Sean who got into the apples (we found 10 apples around the house with one bite taken out of each... sigh).
While my mom and I went to Home Depot to get the supplies for the Costco Closet, it was my dad and I that put it up. It was relatively easy but what I liked best (besides spending time with just my dad and I) was that things we did triggered his memory.
When we were getting supplies (drill, screwdrivers... etc), he told me to get a bar of soap.  The soap is for the screws which makes them go in easier.  As we were soaping some screws, he said to me, "You know this always reminds me of my dad."
I wasn't close to my Grandpa Drapal.  My Grandma Drapal died when I was just one year old after that, my Grandpa went to Florida for part of the year and well... I just didn't get to know him all that well.  I was really close to my Great Auntie Irene and Uncle Joe (who were siblings to my Grandma Drapal) and they felt more like my grandparents.
I have always been one to ask lots of questions about where I've come from.  My Grandpa Jonasen and I were very close, so I learned a lot about his days in Duluth, Minnesota, about his parents coming over from Norway.  I also knew a lot about my Nan (back before her great memory got 'short').
I used to ask my Auntie questions about my Grandma Drapal, and she did tell me some stories about her when I was in my 20s but for the most part, they kept her a secret from me.  I don't think anyone did this on purpose, but I would get little snippets about her, like she was so creative, she had a good eye for decorating and she was funny. What I did know about her was that she drank, and it was probably what killed her. I know too that she loved me very much. It makes me sad that I have no memory of her.
While my dad and I were building, he told me another story.  One about my Grandma and Grandpa Drapal. I don't want to go into too much detail about the story, but I do want to write so that it will trigger my bad memory should I want to share it with my children one day (which I know I will). I mentioned that my Grandma drank, and at the time of the story it wasn't good, but something happened to my Grandpa and my dad said he came over to help and suddenly my Grandma was in complete control.  She took care of my Grandpa and was able to get him better. The way my dad told it showed me a new puzzle to my history, a love that my grandparents had that I had never heard before. My dad shook his head at the memory and told me he didn't think he'd ever told anyone that story before.
I felt so honored he told me.
I sometimes wish I could go back in time and remember... Or I wish that when I looked up and talked to the heavens that they'd answer me right back. But other times I just think how things like that~ stories~ have a way of shaping me, my thoughts, my ideas about everything.

I understand that some aren't as forthcoming and perhaps get annoyed by the thousands of questions I had when I was a girl. But I was happy for this time with my dad.  Maybe we need to build more things together.  We do want to do a new master in a couple years...

Until then~ Here are some before and after shots of our work!

One day I'll share all this history with them... Oh and Sean too of course!