The following story is part three of a three part series that illustrates the life of “Big PawPaw”. The story is told to us through the memories of his grandson and his family members. To read part one and part two please see “Big PawPaw”

Big PawPaw

My grandfather’s name was Henry, and we all called him “Big PawPaw.”  He was a brilliant giant of a man, six and a half feet tall, with broad shoulders, size 15 shoes, and hands so large that the palms could cover my entire face until I was 12 years old.  His sparkling sense of humor and wit were legendary. In 2003 PawPaw lost a long hard fight with cancer, and his lifetime is remembered through the eyes of his big family; a family that he loved dearly with his whole over-sized heart, and who loved him right back with bear hugs and admiration.  My name is Justin, and I am his 11^th grandchild. This is my story.

Part 3.  A Sandwich

Justin (Grandson):  Entering WWII, Big PawPaw weighed over 200 pounds.  After he was captured, and spent 6-months as a prisoner of war, he weighed less than 140 pounds.  The Nazis starved him rail thin, nearly to death, and it’s a good thing the war ended when it did.  Maybe it was this experience of starvation, or maybe it was his natural disposition, but Big PawPaw had the largest appetite of just about anyone I’ve ever met.  He had an appreciation for good food in quantities that thoroughly awed me on multiple occasions. After he was diagnosed with cancer in his mid 80’s I visited him in the hospital, and asked what he wanted to eat.  Not far away from the hospital was a sandwich shop that made family-size po’boys stacked tall with ham, salami, provolone, and drenched with a rich olive dressing.  Half of one of these sandwiches could put a healthy person in a happy food coma.  “Well,” PawPaw said, “This chemo has put a curb on my appetite … You better just get me two of those po’boys instead of three.”  I brought him back two sandwiches — enough sandwich to feed a small village — and he ate them both with enough enjoyment to bring smiles to a medium or large sized village.