Bopa at 100
[My grandfather turned 100 this summer. Here is what I said at his party.]
Who is Bopa? To get to know Bopa, try having a birthday.
When I turned seven, he picked me up in a yellow ‘86 Corvette convertible with “Indy Pace Car” painted on the side. We picked up my friend Blake, who strapped into the passenger seat with me. I think it was just a lap belt. If there was a shoulder strap, it went behind us. That’s how you did it in those days.
Bopa drove us up to St. Joe, where Nana was waiting for us at the boat. We had sandwiches and one of those big cookies. Where did she get those big cookies? I think Macri’s.
Then we went out on a boat ride. One of the most fun birthdays I can remember.
If you want to get to know Bopa, go to a Notre Dame football game. When I was a kid, the phone call [offering me a ticket] seemed to come when it was raining. Who were these friends, Bopa, who were calling you on a football Saturday saying, “Oh, sorry, we aren’t coming to the game today because it’s cloudy and there are a few drops of rain”?
I never found out. Because Bopa never complains.
But I was glad for the tickets, rain or shine. And I saw many games in perfect weather. Including in ’88, Notre Dame/Miami, sunny, 75 degrees in September, 31-30 Notre Dame and the game winning play was made in OUR corner of the end zone, Pat Terrell knocking down the pass on a two point conversion try. Jimmy Johnson went for two!
But let me tell you about what happened in the first half. [general groaning and squirming in seats]
We’ve seen a lot of great ND seasons, several so-so. Bopa never gets too up, and never too down about it. I think that must be one of the ways you get to one hundred: never too up, never too down.
And Bopa is pure class. At every Michigan game for many years, he had his friend Bob the Michigan fan sitting with us. And there was no animosity. I was always thinking, “Bopa, why are you inviting a Michigan fan into OUR seats?”
I knew this guy—Bob Chappuis—played for Michigan back in the day, but I didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until a couple years ago I looked him up and saw Bob finished second in the Heisman in ’47.
Bopa treated him the same as anybody—with dignity, respect, consideration, and genuine interest. And he didn’t brag. He never said, “Hey, you know my friend was second in the Heisman.” It was just Bob.
And Bopa’s an important guy, he’s a successful guy—but I’ve never seen him say to anyone, “Do you know who I am?” He never brags.
If you want to get to know Bopa, do an activity. Somebody mentioned earlier the epic volleyball games on the beach. I talked about the boat rides.
But what I want to tell you about is one Sunday at our house. We used to have a go kart with a five horsepower engine. And we’d run it in the back field and then back through the path in the woods. Bopa used to have a few classic cars. With the classic cars, you have to take them out and keep them running. One Sunday, he drove out in a white, I think it was a ’62 Corvette convertible. While we were on the go kart, he drove the Corvette around in the field, too. Over the bumps and gullies and everything.
And that’s Bopa. Just a lot of fun.
Lastly, if you want to get to know Bopa, stop by. When I was a kid, you could come by his office at the dealership any time and he’d talk to you and let you help yourself to the fresh popped popcorn in the showroom and a cup of, it wasn’t 7-UP. It was some other brand just like 7-Up. High Hat? Something like that.
Or you could stop by at Bridgman. Who here grew up visiting Nana and Bopa at Bridgman? [many hands raised] Now, you can stop by his apartment. If you’ve got little kids, he’s got a cabinet full of toys they can get into while you’re there. He’ll always offer you a Coke or a 7-Up.
There was only one time Bopa wasn’t real happy about me stopping by. I was 14 or 15 and it was Halloween. My friend Blake says, “Hey, let’s go trick or treating.” I said we don’t have any costumes. He said, “Here, take this.” And it was a two dollar, blood and gore monster mask that went over your head and you could barely breathe out of it.
So we went around trick or treating. Nana and Bopa lived right in that neighborhood. So Bopa is out front handing out candy and I take a piece of candy, then I’m getting ready to walk away. But then I stop and say, “Do you know who I am?” And he looks at me very politely, and he’s probably thinking, “I have absolutely no idea what this blood and gore mask is supposed to be.” And he says “No.”
I lifted up the mask, and Bopa went white as a ghost. He must have been a little disappointed that his grandson, who was way too old to be trick or treating, was out here without even a real costume on. I thought he was going to say, “Give me that candy back,” but he didn’t say anything.
I think that was the one time he wasn’t too happy to see me.
Bopa, all of us are going to keep on stopping by. Not just because you turned one hundred and we want to celebrate you. But because you’re our superstar, our hero. You are our Bopa.
