On this, my first blog entry, I thought of many different topics relevant to the real estate market of the moment, the state of the economy and the tactics we all need to adopt to not only survive but thrive through this market and beyond.  It occurred to me some time ago - and Gary Keller actually talked about it at the Keller Williams Family Reunion in Orlando - that we will come through these times with very different attitutudes, perspectives and habits.  The methods and habits of our grandparents will become our new model, if it hasn’t already.  It makes me immediately think of my grandparents who always had a non-sensical approach on how to live your life.  Just this last week at KW Masterminds in Austin, we heard Gary again:  too many of us are putting too much pressure on our businesses to support a lifestyle when what we really need to do is live within our means.  Keller Williams Realty International is debt free?  Are you?  If not, what are you doing to beome debt free?  The basic economic model and shift tactics - subjects for a later blog.  Today as I reflect on the 5th anniversary of my grandfather’s passing, I remember and am grateful for the many lessons he taught me that serve me well today.  He always did the right thing; he always lived within his means and he lived to serve others.  He knew that it’s always God & family first, then business.  I want to share with you the eulogy I delivered at his memorial service….

 

Carroll F. Macklin (Mac)December 20, 1920 - May 1, 2004 Gra’pa Mac was born in Des Moines, Iowa and moved to California when he was about 5 years old.  He first lived in Fresno, then later in Stockton.  He and Gra’ma were married in November 1941.  Gra’pa and Gra’ma had two daughters, Carolyn and Charlotte. There were only a couple of houses on Patterson when Gra’pa and Gra’ma moved into their home in 1952.  A little girl about 12 years old wandered over from across the street since there were now two other little girls to play with.  Mom’s own parents were in poor health.  Mom was immediately adopted and became daughter number three.  Gra’pa and Gra’ma watched after her, made sure she had all that she needed and even got her a prom dress.  In other words, they became her parents.  However, my Uncle Howard (Mom’s brother) maintains that she stayed with Gra’pa and Gra’ma because they had indoor plumbing and TV.  The girls would play jacks on the only suitable surface in the little house at 2016 Patterson.  The bathroom floor.  It had linoleum and was flat. Therefore it was the best jack playing surface.  Gra’pa would have to wait until each of the girls had their turn.  In a one bathroom home, this was a regular dilemma. Mom was over playing just shortly after Gra’pa and Gra’ma moved in and they were arguing about something.  Mom got upset over something Gra’pa said and ran back across the street.  Gra’pa came over and got Mom.  He told her he was sorry if her feelings got hurt, but don’t be so touchy and get your fanny back over here!  When Gra’pa wanted to walk Mom down the aisle and give her away when she married Bob,  Mom fell in love with him all over again.  When Gra’pa walked her down that aisle, we all could see a little tear in the corner of his eye and one of Gra’pa’s brightest smiles that just warmed your heart. Carolyn and Charlotte would get into fights as sisters are often prone to do.  One day they  were fighting and Gra’ma told them to quit fighting and sent them to clean their room.  They start fighting again until Gra’ma finally sent them outside to really fight.  Well, when Gra’pa came home and found them fighting in the yard (as Gra’ma had told them to do), he whipped them both for fighting.  Although Gra’pa often threatened to tan your hide or turn you over his knee, this was the only time he laid a hand on any of the kids. Charlotte and a girlfriend went to a dance at the NCO Club on Sharpe Army Depot about a week before Thanksgiving.  Charlotte kept hearing someone laugh and she really liked that laugh.  She liked that laugh so much she kept looking for the person behind it.  All of a sudden there was a tap on her shoulder and the owner of that laugh, Don Henderson, asked her if she wanted to dance.  They went to a party afterwards, it got late and Donnie ended up falling asleep in the car.  So, Charlotte brought him home, leaving him in the car.  The next morning she got up early.  Mom, Brenda and Gra’ma were sitting at the table.  Everyone knew something was amiss because Charlotte never got up early.  She said nothing was wrong then finally told Gra’ma a boy was sleeping in the car.  Gra’pa got up and was eventually  told that Charlotte had a boy in the car. Gra’pa told her to bring him in and give him some coffee and breakfast.  Charlotte wanted to invited him back for Thanksgiving.  Donnie mentioned his mother was worried because she thought he was all alone for Thanksgiving.  Gra’pa told him to call his mom and let her know that he’s not alone.  Charlotte and Donnie were married a few months later.  They have four children, Brett, Bradley, Bryan and Dawn.  Bradley married Melissa and they have two children, Joey and Matthew plus another one on the way; Bryan married Mary.  Brett married Jennifer and gave Gra’pa his “little Jakie”, Andrew Jacob Henderson, born on the same day as Matthew.  Gra’pa lived to see what little Jakie was doing each and every day.  His one wish after he had his bypass surgery was that he would see Jakie walk thru the door to his house.   There was another incident that Mom always says “we don’t discuss”.  It involved her and Charlotte at a dance in Linden.  Gra’pa  & Gra’ma often drove the kids and chaperoned at the dances.  The incident itself was innocent enough.  However, she disappeared and Gra’pa didn’t know where she was.  He went looking for her and found her sitting in the front seat of a car with a boy.  Gra’pa opened the car door, pulled Mom out of the car and told her to get her fanny back inside.  Mom has two children, me and Kenny.  I have two children, Stephen and Mark.  Kenny has two boys, Jacob and Jonathon. Gra’pa loved Western movies.  He was an avid sportsman especially enjoying hunting and fishing.  He loved to tell stories about his various adventures when fishing or hunting.  He spent countless hours with all the neighborhood kids teaching them how to tie knots, telling jokes and making those famous root beer floats with a gallon of root beer direct from A&W.  He always had time for the kids and he could keep us entertained for hours with the “goose neck knot”.  He would tell us to pick any loop and no matter which loop you picked, it would tighten around your finger.  No kid ever knew a Mr. Macklin.  Mac and Clara were always Uncle Mac and Aunt Clara or gramma and grampa; many of those kids still refer to Mac & Clara in that same way.  Gra’pa also had nicknames for many of the kids.  Larry’s daughter, Lynette was “Dumb Dumb” because when she was 3 she got into an argument with Gra’pa with each of them telling the other “no, you’re a dumb dumb”; his daughter Sabrina was “Wrong Foot” because she always had her shoes on the wrong feet; and I was “Whistle Britches” because apparently when I was running around in a diaper, I made a whistling sound or often I was simply known as “Brat”. Gra’pa and his nephews enjoyed many hunting and fishing trips together.  On one occasion Larry and Gra’pa were striper fishing in a 14’ aluminum boat in the deep water channel near Antioch.  It was about 2 miles across the river from either side of the banks.  They were night fishing and it started to get foggy.  They couldn’t see the banks, but the boat was anchored.  Gra’pa hooked a big fish that went straight to the bottom.  With Larry at the bow and Gra’pa at the stern, Gra’pa kept trying to pull his catch up.  Every time he yanked up on his line, the anchor line went slack.  The fish had gotten itself wrapped around the anchor.  Larry pulled up the anchor and brought up the anchor and a  7’ sturgeon.  Gra’pa handed Larry the net as they started drifting in the fog.  The sturgeon snapped the line and left them free drifting in the fog.  They got themselves re-anchored, but had to stay put until the fog lifted so they could see where they were and get back home. Brett and Fred Wilson made it possible for Gra’pa to go bear hunting one last time about six years ago.  It was the highlight of his hunting years when he got his last bear. Larry, Chris, Justin and Tammy were fishing with Gra’pa on the houseboat while Tammy was pregnant.  She started not feeling well and Gra’pa took her inside where she could lie down.  He sat with her and tried to comfort her and make her feel better. About five years ago, Gra’pa decided he wanted another dog.  Gra’ma wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but said if Gra’pa wanted a dog it would have to be a poodle because she didn’t want a dog that sheds.  So, we started looking for poodles.  I found an ad in the paper, called Gra’pa and out we went to look at the puppies.  They were 3 or 4 puppies left.  Some were kind of lethargic and they all appeared too young to be taken away from their litter.  But there was one little ball of fluff that was bouncing around and seemed to pick us out as much as we picked her.  Another couple was eyeing her at the same time.  So, I scooped her up and put her in Gra’pa’s arms and said “what do you think Gra’pa?” and he said, “I think this one has picked us out”.  So, we brought that little ball of fluff home, over some minor objections of Gra’ma. (Mostly, that she was going to be the one that ended up taking care of her and she didn’t really want a dog).  But when we got her home, Gra’ma fell in love with that puppy at first sight.  She fed her formula, then regular people food as she cooked for her and Gra’pa.  When deciding on a name, all Gra’pa and Gra’ma could think about is that this puppy reminded them of Carolyn’s poodle, Mitzi.  Therefore, she was named Mitzi.  Mom and Charlotte said from the beginning, “we’ve got another sister the way Mom treats that dog”.  Therefore, I call her Aunt Mitzi. I was a teenager before I ever knew that Mac & Clara were not my “real” grandparents.  This realization had really thrown me for a curve.  But, Gra’pa in that quiet, strong, gentle way of his, didn’t say anything about grandparents.  He said, to someone else that was visiting at the time, “isn’t my granddaughter just the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen?”  I knew then that I was truly blessed.  Gra’pa and Gra’ma are the only grandparents I’ve ever known and they chose to be my grandparents.  Gra’pa will always be in my heart and soul.  There isn’t anything that I do that hasn’t been influenced by Gra’ma and Gra’pa in one way or another.  Now, every time I’m driving around trucks, I’ll hear Gra’pa telling me to watch for the trucks shifting and stay out of their way.  At curves, I’ll hear him say “slow down missy, that’s a curve up there”, and every time I need new tires I’ll hear him say “how long are you going to drive on those banana peels?”.  Gra’pa could add a long list of numbers faster than you could put them in a calculator.  He would tease you to death, but when he saw that maybe he’d gone to far, he’d pick you up with those huge hands that could snap a man in half and set you in his lap with a tenderness you can’t imagine.  Then he’d tell you to quit being so touchy and go play.  Gra’pa enjoyed Tuesday night dinners at Rob and Lynell’s, belonging to  STARS and the Senior Citizen Center.  He loved getting Chinese Food at the Far East Café.  He loved lemon meringue pie.  When Mike and I would come out to barbeque, Gra’pa would always say he had beer in the fridge for Mike and don’t forget my pie.  It got to be a game almost between Gra’ma and Mike.  Mike would sneak Gra’pa an extra piece of pie and Gra’ma would pretend not to notice then slap Mike on the shoulder and tell him to stop giving Gra’pa extra pie. Living off of a busy highway, there were many accidents.  Gra’pa would always rush out when there was an accident to make sure a neighbor wasn’t involved or just to render assistance if needed.  On January 13, 1960, Gra’pa and Gra’ma were at about Fremont and Hwy 99 on their way home when they came upon a car accident at the railroad tracks that ran across the freeway at that time.  Gra’pa and Gra’ma went to the accident scene and recognized Uncle Howard as the driver of the car.  He was in bad shape.  They followed the ambulance to the hospital only to find that they couldn’t make any decisions for Uncle Howard since they weren’t his legal guardians.  So, Gra’ma stayed with Uncle Howard, held his hand and kept talking to him while Gra’pa rushed out to get Uncle Howard’s Mom and bring her to the hospital. Gra’pa and Gra’ma enjoyed 63 years of marriage.  They did a lot of traveling, going across the country 3 different times, and lived their retirement years to the fullest.  Gra’pa surprised Gra’ma with a pair of diamond earrings on their 60th anniversary.  Three diamonds on each side, one to represent each 10 years of marriage.  They enjoyed their Motor home and a membership at the Lighthouse where they boated and fished.  They enjoyed the many friends they met there.  Gra’pa often said, Gra’ma was the fisherman, I just got to drive the boat.  Gra’pa had a massive stroke on April 18.  He was afraid and didn’t want to be alone, but his thoughts were still of everyone else first.  He worried about Brett getting to bed for work the next day.  He wanted to make sure Gra’ma and Mitzi were taken care of.  He said thank you for anything you did for him.   Gra’pa was a truck driver since he was 17 years old.  He drove for Gallo Wine for awhile and those tankers had to be siphoned at the end of the day.  He would fill a gallon jug from what was left tablespoon at a time and  bring it home.  He fell off a wine truck and broke his back which led to his retirement.  Even after the stroke when he was telling the Speech Therapist about the wine trucks, he started laughing. Gra’pa never lost his sense of humor.  He always thought of everyone else.  He told everyone he loved them and to take care of Gra’ma and Mitzi.  Gra’pa taught us discipline, values and how to be independent and respectful of one another.  Even in those final days, he taught us the strength to be vulnerable and the courage to let someone know when you’re afraid. Carolyn passed away unexpectedly on July 18, 1968 at the age of 25.  In the last few days before Gra’pa passed,  he said he could see and hear Carolyn, and that he was waiting for Carolyn to come and get him.  Gra’ma, Charlotte and Mom all said that they could feel Carolyn’s presence in Gra’pa’s room.  On May 1 at 8:10 p.m., God gathered Gra’pa into his arms and Carolyn took his hand and brought him to his final home, with our Lord & Saviour, Jesus Christ.  He now has Mitzi #1 and like Charlotte told him, “we’ve had you for a lot of years, it’s Sis’ turn.  One day, we’ll all be together again.  Until then, Gra’pa will be a guardian angel to us all, always in our hearts and our souls.  And when he entered into the Kingdom of Heaven, I’m sure God Said, ”well done my faithful servant, with you I am well pleased”.