Today is my Grandpa Emmett O'Rear's birthday, this post is dedicated to him. He lived an amazing life that influenced all of his grandchildren immensely. He was a wonderfully creative man and praised all of us for our talents. He was constantly teaching us about the history of our family and the great ancestors that came before us. He always told us how special we were and the great genes we had been given.
Grandpa was an entrepreneur, an engineer, a designer and a builder. He had so many interests and hobbies. At one time we were so lucky to be the family that all lived on the same street. Grandpa and Grandma were at the end of the block and our cousins, The Bosworths, lived a few houses away. Grandma and Grandpa were our full time babysitters. Grandpa had cherry trees, apple trees, blackberries and a few grape vines. I remember he had the whole area landscaped with old railroad ties, when they got hot in the summer the tar seeped out from the ties and the whole area smelled like hot tar. It's a comforting smell that still reminds me of hanging out with Grandpa near his fruit trees. He built all of the houses we lived in on that street with the help of his new son in-laws. I know have him to thank for my interest in design and building and thanks to him I pursued a career in doing something I actually enjoy.
When we got older Grandpa and Grandma moved to Florida so we would visit them once a year. I remember whenever we went to visit we would each get time alone with Grandpa to have a one on one talk. He would ask us what we were up to in our lives and at school. He would always encourage us to nourish any blooming interests and tell us how talented he thought we were. I remember sometimes when I was really young being a little nervous about my "talk with Grandpa", but after the talk I would always come out feeling so good and special and I know he made me a better person with those talks. He really made us all look inside ourselves to see if we were living a good life and on the right track. He made us be very proud of who we were. I loved that Grandpa was also such a sensitive man, it was not rare for him to shed a few tears during our talks and whenever he told stories about war or the past he never held back his emotions which I admired, he always told me I got his sensitivity.
I feel so lucky and blessed that I was able to spend so much time with such a wonderful man. He instilled in all of us the values to lead good lives. I think he would be proud of all of us today.
I attached a couple of pictures of Grandpa below that I found online. These are the only ones I have because I'm here in California. I put the link below, it is really cool, he has been written about because he was an apprentice at The Henry Ford Trade School. Here is a fun quote another guy wrote about Grandpa:
"I remember Emmett O'Rear, an apprentice like me, having some fun with Jimmy Mearns one day. Jim was a wood craftsman and was kneeling down, making a wood template from a clay model, Emmett, full of humor, took a rubber stamp title block, crept up behind Jim, and pressed the block onto Jim's bald head. Emmett was wearing leather soled shoes and had quite a time escaping Jim's wrath. It was funny seeing Emmett bounding around the clay models with Jim in full pursuit!"
(if you search for Emmett all of the pages he is mentioned on will come up.)
And because he's just so cute, little Emmett!:
Ann modeling her bridesmaid dress! 
Joe's special dessert, lemon raspberry cake--it was delicious!!
Decorating the cake!
Good job Joe!
Kay the cook! She definitely worked the hardest!
Papa carved the turkey
Ann and David
The whole family
First snow!! Yay!
