Grandpa and the Koo-Koos....

Most likely my earliest memory of childhood is when I was about four years old. I would go with Dad out to see his father in what was then, the country. People now know it as "Andover". Years back, Anoka was a whole lot bigger than it is today. It used to stretch west all the way to Elk River and to the north I swear to God, it went to International Falls. Now, dorky names like Andover, Ramsey, Nowthen and others pop out of people's mouths. You can tell the newbies from the old timers though, because they will say things like "Hunter had a hockey game last night in "Leeno Lakes and tonight he plays in Sodderville!". People. It's frickin Lino Lakes and Soderville. Where the hell did they go to school? Coon Rapids?

Anyway, we would go to grandpa's house and he lived in a two room little home with an outhouse. I went into the outhouse once and saw a spider in the window. He was trying to get out. Once I saw what was in an outhouse, I couldn't blame him.

Grandpa used to always, right before we left, reach for my hand and offer me a cookie. But he called it a koo-koo. Maybe he felt by renaming it, I wouldn't be afraid him and his bald head. I never understood what made me afraid of bald guys. Maybe it was one too many Mr. Whipple commercials. I would shove the cookie into my pocket and by the time we got home, it would have turned to crumbs.

I never did get to eat one. Maybe had it been an Oreo, it might had survived the ride...


Joe