Grandpa Sugar

James Edward Harwell

My Mom's Dad past away a couple of days ago. He was in the hospital with pneumonia the week before and they didn't think he would make it another week. He probably wasn't the best Father but I think in his older age he recognized that. I give my Mom tons of credit for making an effort to get to know him better in his last couple of years and trying to record his life story so that we could know him better too. They had a little memorial the other day and my mom had asked us to write what we remembered most about Grandpa Sugar. The next paragraph was what I had emailed my mom for the memorial. I was embarrassed that this was all I could remember about him but it was Grandpa. If you know him, I'm sure you will enjoy it. I didn't know him as well as I know other Grandparents but I loved him the same.

The things I remember most about Grandpa "Sugar" was that for most of my life I was bigger than him. He called me Sugar whenever he saw me, at first I believe it was a term of endearment but than it was out of necessity cause he couldn't remember my name, hence the name, Grandpa "Sugar". I remember him always tinkering with something like the gigantic contraption that was on the back of his little pick up truck(which had to do with the pollution problem). There were a couple of cross-country trips that he took that were definitely memorable to us but not sure if they were for him. The last time I saw him was at my parent's house right before I got married. I had the pleasure of going outside to "watch" him while he had a smoking break. I think mom was afraid he would run away or something. Anyways, while we sat outside he told me a little bit about his life and then he kept saying that he has lived an amazing life. He said there were many hard times but he learned so much and that he was going to right a book about it. Not sure if he ever did but if so I'd like a copy cause I'm sure it would be entertaining even if it was embellished a bit.

October 28, 1928 - July 6, 2008