For 40 years Ken Ronnebaum has had a mustache. 4-0 years. Longer than I have been alive. His mustache is part of who he is, and his wife, Brigid, loves his mustache. Do you know who didn't care for it? Clare.
After each visit with her Gaga (Brigid) and Pop Pop (Ken), Clare would tell us that she really likes Pop Pop, but doesn't like his mustache. That mustache was a barrier in advancing their relationship. She would frequently tell Pop pop to "shave it off."
Pop Pop and Gaga came to visit for the 4th of July holiday and then go to Clare's radiation treatments on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday morning, we awoke to a clean shaven Pop Pop... For the first time in 40 years. Well, this amazing gesture had some instant and profound changes. Clare asked that Pop Pop sit next to her during lunch that day. And when we went to Cleveland Botanical Garden between doctors visits and radiation, it was Pop Pop who she requested to go to the top of the tree house with her.
It is amazing what a Pop Pop will do for his granddaughter. When someone asked why, he said, "Anything for her."
