Flashback Friday - Grandpa Pace

Ok, so I've been meaning to steal the Flashback Friday idea from my sisters for some time now, and I finally thought of one I really want to post. This is inspired by Britta's post last week about our Grandma Pace. Reading her post got me thinking of all the wonderful memories of our grandparents. It was kind of funny because I had a pretty memorable experience brought to mind the day before I read Britta's post.
I was out to dinner with some of the gals in the ward, a fun little girls night out. On the drive home we started talking about voicemails. (Can you believe there are people out there who still don't have it? Neither could we!) This made me think back to being a wee child (ok a teenager, honestly) and when my parents got their first phone with an answering machine. We got a new cordless phone for Christmas, and it was sooo spiffy because it came with an answering machine in the base. The whole family was pretty darn excited about this technological marvel! That was the gift that we told EVERYONE about. As we were visiting Grandpa and Grandma Pace we of course told them of the newfangled contraption that my dad had set up before we left. Grandpa decided he needed to test it out, of course. So, he called. With all of us sitting there. "Hello, George! This is Al. When you get home, give me a ring. Unless it's late, then tell him to wait." We loved this message. We kept it on the voicemail for a while, just for the fun of it. My brother Joel even had a variation of it for a while as his voicemail (he still might...I haven't left him a message in a while). His jokes have been the fondest memories that we share. The slightest mention of this message will get a recitation from everyone around, in unison. George also used to be his go-to name whenever he needed something generic. There was another phone incident which is quite memorable. We were having an open house for my brother Dirk, either mission homecoming or farewell...I forget which one. The phone rang and Grandpa was the closest one to the phone, so he picked it up. "Hello, George! This is Al." Seeing a pattern? Needless to say, Dirk's friend was quite confuzzled.
I am so glad that I have these fond memories of my grandparents. It makes not being able to see them anymore, in this life, easier to handle. I am also greatful that I have my wonderful family to share them with. Most of the time when we laugh about our inside jokes like this our spouses will share a look, that I'm pretty sure interprets as something like, "What did we get ourselves into?!"