Sean's Story about Gramps

Sean wrote this piece about my dad a couple years ago. It gives a good sense of Sugar's sense of humor.
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I’d like to take a few minutes to tell you about the funniest guy I’ve ever known, my Grandpa, Ambrose Kane.

Whenever I think about Gramps I start laughing and that, in my opinion, is a good thing. It’s because of how funny Gramps is. Anybody who knows Gramps will tell you the same thing.

When my brother and I were kids, Mom and Dad would ship us off to Nebraska for a month every summer. Even though it was hot and humid in Grand Island and they lived down the street from a cattle yard so, depending on how the wind was blowing, it could smell pretty bad, we always looked forward to going. One of the reasons was that we got to see Gramps and hear his corny jokes.

All 19 of the grandkids probably heard this one every time they saw Gramps. We would show up in Nebraska every summer and Grandma would say to Grandpa, “Look how big he’s gotten!” Gramps would always follow with, “Yep, he’s sure gruesome!”

Back when Gramps was heavier he always wore those denim overalls with all the brass buttons on them. This was at the time when he was driving a semi truck with the word SUGAR painted on both doors. That’s his nickname from way back, Sugar Kane.

Anyway, I’ll never forget the time Gramps, Grandma, Kyle and I were at the dinner table. We had just finished eating and Gramps got up to leave. But the table cloth was caught on his overalls and when Gramps turned and started walking away, the whole table cloth went with him. The problem was all of the dishes were still on the table. After the noise of all the dishes crashing to the floor subsided, there was silence until Gramps said, “I used to be able to do that trick.” Even Grandma had to laugh at that one.

That was just one of the many funny moments I remember from those summers in Nebraska. Every time I see Grandpa, which isn’t often enough, he cracks me up. I owe my sense of humor to Grandpa, the funniest man I’ve ever known.

Everybody knows how much Gramps loves to eat. He was in the hospital recently so I called him to see how he was doing. I asked him how they were treating him in the hospital. He said they were giving him plenty to eat so he had no complaints. He hasn’t been feeling well lately so my brother and I are driving out to see him next month in Iowa City. I wonder if he’ll still use the ‘gruesome’ joke.