Pitch

I first met my husband’s step-grandfather, Walt Hein when he was the age that I am now…69 years old. I was 18 years old at the time, and soon to be married to my husband, Bob Schulenberg. While Walt, as most of the family called him, seemed gruff and tough, but underneath all that, he was really a softy. As stepfamily goes, Walt or Grandpa as I always called him was a “bonus” grandpa. He always loved when we came for visits. My girls, Corrie Petersen and Amy Royce stole his heart from the very start. They had him wrapped around their little fingers immediately. He let them chase the chickens, and he took them for little horse rides around the corral. Grandpa wanted the girls to have fun. He wanted all kids to have fun there. He placed a bathtub in the yard years before, and when the girls were there, he would put water in it so they could “swim” and cool off. It was great fun. The girls loved going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hein.

Grandpa loved playing cards and having us come for visits. When it was just him and Grandma there, playing cards really didn’t happen very much, and that was sad for Grandpa. When we came the first time, they taught us to play “Pitch” and so we played…every time we were there. Quickly, I became his official “Pitch” partner. We both tended to be ruthless…at least during the card games. We seldom lost, and he never wanted to quit playing, even when we needed to go to town for visits with the rest of the family. Once we went to town, Grandpa would head off to one of the outbuildings on the ranch for his afternoon nap. That usually lasted an hour or so, and then he was totally re-energized and ready to go play cards again. If Grandpa could have had his way, this would be the agenda for our visits there…and Grandma would have never gotten any of her work done.

When we got ready to go to town, the look of disappointment on his face was so hard to see. I knew that he didn’t get to play cards much when we weren’t there for a visit, so he really wanted to play all day, but Grandma had other things to do. She loved working around the house, cooking and cleaning, and her other activities, so sometimes we just had to stop. Poor Grandpa!! That ruined his whole day. Maybe that was why he took the naps. I miss those days. Today is the 119th anniversary of the birth of a sweet old man. Happy birthday in Heaven, Grandpa Hein. We love and miss you very much.