Grandpa Howard, Knee Pads and a Mean Air Guitar

This past weekend Lauren and I traveled to Utah to visit my 100 year- old grandfather, Howard Sandberg. Born in 1907, Grandpa Howard still enjoys reading the newspaper and eating. A little disconcerting to Lauren was the color of Howard’s feet when he walked into the family room (using his trusty walker). At 100 years of age, his circulatory system isn’t what it used to be. To Lauren’s relief, after a few minutes with his feet elevated they returned to a normal color. But ask yourself, is there a normal anything when you’ve inhabited this planet for a century?

Grandpa Howard is a wealth of family history, and if asked to regale with family stories, he will oblige—of special interest are stories of my father.

We had a very pleasant visit, and I am grateful Lauren had the chance to meet Grandpa Howard.

We also paid a visit to my friend Josh on Saturday morning. We had some tasty bagels and watched his son's soccer game. At the game, the intense Utah sun quickly roasted the top of JC's bald head, but Lauren's quick thinking and some sunscreen averted a major disaster. Editorial Note inserted by Lauren - The sunscreen may or may not have had some sort of self tanning element to it.

The rest of the weekend we spent with my cousin Scott and his family. A brief editorial note on Scott...To the consternation of many, Scott didn’t marry until he was 35. No one in the Sandberg family thought breaking Scott’s family record was possible—until I took up the challenge. With Lauren’s help, I will beat Scott’s record by a few months. Scott has looked down on my accomplishment with no small measure of disdain because of my insignificant margin of victory— part of Scott’s “Go Big or Go Home” philosophy (more on that momentarily). A win is a win is a win—but I digress.

Editorial Note inserted by Lauren - The following picture is not for the faint of heart ...

Eight weeks ago, Scott suffered an unfortunate snow skiing injury. While setting out on what he thought was his last run of the day and the season (a truly prophetic thought), Scott hit an icy jump, went way too “big”, missed the landing zone, and landed in the flat breaking both heels (calcaneus bones for you medical wunderkind). I’m wincing as I type this. Needless to say, Scott has not walked since the accident two months ago. His current mobility choices consist of a wheelchair and a set of kneepads.

I don’t think there’s anyway to adequately paint a picture of Scott crawling around on all fours up and down stairs, into his kids’ room, or mowing the lawn (don’t ask). But I can safely say no one has a better attitude while recovering from a serious injury. And there is no more attentive caregiver than his saintly wife. Editorial Note inserted by Lauren - This saintly wife not only runs a marathon in 3 hours and 15 minutes, but also makes this transcendental banana cake that I will forever crave.

Cousin Scott has two sons. Son #1, age 7, is an accomplished Guitar Hero player (his mother is world class). Son #2, age 4, aspires to someday play Guitar Hero. In the meantime, Son #2 is a precocious, make that prodigious, air guitarist. When I visited last year, he played his battle axe. This trip he transcended the battle axe and graduated to the pantheon of air guitar immortals. He didn’t just play the air guitar, he was swept up in the moment, feeling every note— floppy curly hair covering his eyes, head gyrating, sound effects emanating, fretting, strumming—the complete package. He paid homage to the great rock guitar gods—picture Eddie Van Halen meets Nigel Tufnel.

Thanks to Scott and family for a wonderful weekend of great memories. We look forward to seeing Scott and his wife at the wedding...without the wheelchair or the kneepads.