I had the opportunity to know only one of my grandfathers. The other one passed away before I was born. I knew one of my great-grandfathers, too. He was a very strong man. He had to have both legs amputated due to the effects of diabetes but yet, later in life, he could walk on his artificial legs without canes.

The grandpa I knew was a music teacher for many years. As a kid, I sat through countless choir concerts and church cantatas that he directed. They were good but I do not think I fully appreciated them then, no more than my own son would today.

One big thing I remember about grandpa was his paranoia about electricity. Now this is the same man who referred to his car as "the machine," as in "I have to take the machine over to have it worked on."

Grandma and grandpa's house did have rather old wiring. The outlets didn't have ground plugs, and they looked very old. When you plugged something in, it fit very loosely. And, of course, they often blew fuses which meant a trip down to the fuse box in the basement.

Grandpa was always paranoid about unplugging everything if they weren't home. Radios, lamps, you name it ... if it wasn't being used, it was to be unplugged. So, turning something on involved not only turning the switch but also often plugging it in.

It seemed rather odd at the time and it seems even of odder now but this was a pretty big deal with him.

Well, at least so I thought ... until I was leaving the house the other day and I really started worrying about whether I had accidentially forgotten to unplug the toaster. :-)