Today would have been my grandfather's 93d birthday. His name was Roy Alexander Marriott. He was a funny guy. He drank martinis and coffee flavored brandy. He'd get pissed off if my grandmother beat him at cards, he'd throw down his hand and shout, "Vipers! Vipers!" His sister LaVerne is still alive, I think she's, like, 98 years old, but their brothers Albert and Harry are dead, too. The last time I saw Harry he was living in a nursing home in Ashland, Wisconsin. His wife Ann was in fine health but the home let her move in there so she could be with Harry, who wasn't moving around so well and was almost deaf. My dad offered to take Ann out to lunch with us, but she said no, she didn't want to be away from Harry that long. The whole time we were visiting she had the toe of her shoe right next to his. Harry and Ann were married for more than for 70 years. They got married when they were 17 and that was that.