‘Some big shoes are being filled.’

This past weekend we visited The Kids out in San Francisco, and I kept thinking of this old TV show, “The Real McCoys”, where Walter Brennan plays Grandpappy Amos, the patriarch of a large family. Theme song (from memory, mind you): “That’s Grandpappy Amos, he’s head of the clan. Roars like a lion but he’s gentle as a lamb…”

A very fresh baby meets his very own Senor Grampa

I’d see The Dude holding Junior Baby or playing with Alexander (AKA Mr. Baby) and what would play in my head (other than the afore-mentioned theme song, that is)? “Senor Grampa! Senor Grampa!” Which is what the Mexican farmhand would yell when something exciting happened.

(I don’t know about you, but if I were Grandpappy Amos, I’d much prefer being addressed as “Senor Grampa.”)

Senor Grampa! My dad lighting sparklers for some random youngster who’s not even one of his grandkids

But back to the two Grampas that figure in this story.

The Child measuring her Grampa’s head

The first is my own father, who died an astonishing seventeen years ago (in June 2009). He was an epic grampa to The Child and to seven other lucky grandkids.

Grampa initiating The Child into the secrets of the TV remote

He was a very hands-on grampa because not only did he genuinely enjoy kids, he was really a kid himself — just in grownup disguise.

Grampa sharing the delights of unwrapping presents

He had a real sense of fun, and The Child enjoyed visiting him even when she wasn’t under obligation to do so.

Pubescent Child flanked by both proud GPs on a strictly voluntary visit

The Child’s grampa’s shoes are mighty hard to fill. But I’m happy to say that The Dude has stepped up in a big way. I see him with Mr. Baby or his little brother Junior Baby, and what plays in my head? Yup. “Senor Grampa! Senor Grampa!”

Grampa Dude pushes strollers and carriages, totes babies in backpacks, makes silly faces galore and wields a baby bottle with aplomb. He’s even an expert burper. And I don’t mean his own burps, which can be prodigious, especially after a beer.

Learning the ins and outs of pool with Dad and Grampa (burps properly stifled)

Dude Man has strutted his Grampa Stuff from coast to coast — from the Hamptons to the Catskills, from Golden Gate Park to Central Park, from the streets of San Francisco to Park Avenue. And he never misses a beat.

Grampa doing the toting last fall in the Catskills

Best of all, nobody — but nobody — reads a book aloud better than he does. Just watch:

The Child’s Grampa would be proud.

The end.

New York, New York. June 2026.