Hello readers of Ken’s blog!
That’s me! (1983)
I am Ken’s granddaughter, Christine Grindle (his daughter Melanie’s eldest daughter). My husband, John, and I helped Granddad with this blog behind the scenes, though he created all of the content and often posted it without any assistance from us. I am so proud of his blog and feel very lucky to have my family history memorialized in such a way.
Granddad has had a fascinating life and is a wonderful storyteller. As most of you probably know, he was always the life of the party, full of tricks and jokes and quick to tell you exactly what was on his mind. He and Grandma have always been a very special part of my life and I was lucky to grow up with them just 20 minutes away until I moved away for college. They afforded me so many opportunities I otherwise would not have had and influenced me in ways I may never fully know.
As you know, Granddad hasn’t posted in quite a while, mostly due to his deteriorating eye sight. He recently expressed to me that he would very much like this blog to continue, and I suggested we start by putting a call out to his readers (you!) to send in their favorite memories of Ken and Doris. Though his mind is (almost) as sharp as it’s ever been, Granddad’s health isn’t great and he is almost 92. He would love to hear from you. If you knew him and/or Doris, please take this opportunity to share your stories with them as he has so generously shared his with all of us.
Send your memories, stories, poems, pictures or prayers for or about them to me at christinelgrindle@gmail.com, and I will share them here on the blog. If you’d rather keep them private, I’m happy to honor that as well and get them directly to him and Doris. I know they will be thrilled to hear from you either way.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you! Please share this with anyone who may be interested but does not read the blog.
P.S. Ken’s book Timely Actions would make a great Christmas gift!
Texas Limey 
Thanks Christine. I sent a letter to Mom and Dad Sunday via Megan and your Mom’s email string. It can be posted here.
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11/11/2018
Dear Mom and Dad,
I love you both very much and I will always be proud of you. I also miss Granny and Arthur and June.
Thank you, Dad, for writing your blog. I learned a lot from reading it and I found out that your Mom was a lot like me and Melanie and her daughters.
I am excited to have Nigel and Donna moving to within 75 miles of me. It feels nice to have relatives nearby. I told Nigel we can meet in the middle and play golf.
I just played in my second annual neighborhood golf tournament scramble and had fun. I made about 4 shots that helped us including a 20-foot putt.
I choose to remember all the happier times we had together as a family, especially our trip from Connecticut to Yellowstone and back! I also remember the Danbury Fair, Mystic Seaport and Cape Cod vacations. Also, we had great fun sledding in the snow and skating and building a tree fort.
In Atlanta I remember having fun playing golf at Druid Hills, the only course I’ve ever seen that had old water fountains that had to be filled with ice every morning. I remember playing in the Father-Son Tournament and Dick Heenan was my “father”. We also enjoyed their house and patio and their cats named Penny and Tuppence.
In Atlanta we also went many times to Stone Mountain and Lake Lanier, where we learned to water ski. I also recall Calloway Gardens, Kennesaw Mountain, Jeckyll Island, camping at the Cherokee Indian Reservation along the Oconaluftee River, and our trip to Marineland, Miami and Nassau Bahamas.
I also remember playing Frisbee, especially with the Schaeffers, and later playing with boomerangs, and in Atlanta, teatherball and horseshoes.
Dad, I was so proud to see you as President of a plastics company in Atlanta, a steel and wire company in Jacksonville and an oil company in Texas.
I remember when you and Mom and Mel moved to Houston in 1980. Every visit started with nachos, salsa and margaritas!
I had a lot of fun in Destin and wish I could have gotten up there more often, especially to get to know my nieces better.
I’m glad you got to see 4 grandchildren and two greatgranchildren continue the circle of life.
Thank you for helping me through Episcopal High School, Vanderbilt, newspaper reporting and Law School. I became a lawyer when Christine was born, so I hate to give it away, but it was 35 years ago!
I am now listening to 33 hours of Continuing Legal Education before the end of the year.
I play Sudoku everyday. I’ve been trying to save my front lawn and just put down rye seed for the winter so it will at least look green.
Now the weather is cooling I plan to ride my bike more often.
I also received 3 free nights at Harrah’s Indian Casino in Cherokee, NC, so I am driving up there Dec 2 and going on day hikes for 2 days and then driving home on the 5th. I guess it is free because I stayed at their property in Biloxi last Xmas.
I am having Thanksgiving dinner with Nigel and Donna at his fraternity brother’s house in Fernandina, not too far from their new house, and I plan to stick around an extra day and help Nigel out since he is still moving slow on his knee. I’ll probably stay here this Xmas and relax.
Anyway, I think about you every day, and also Granny, and I love you both very much.
Love always, Nicholas
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My fondest memory of Doris just happens to be the night of your wedding when she and I danced the night away. Doris loves to dance, and she was quite keen to get out there and stay out there! Ken, not so much! I read every post of the Texas Limey and was very sad when he quit posting. What incredible life experiences both of your grandparents had. My favorite story was the one when he ended up singing on stage with Liza Minelli!
Hugs and kisses to all!
Peri
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