Disclosure: I am not sure the correct pronunciation of this beer. Please note that my granddad tends to appreciate a good dirty joke so if you are easily offended, pass this blog entry on by.

I believe it was when he was serving in the army and was stationed in Michigan that my granddad first heard of Griesedieck™ beer. When he began to tell the story, a shy grin spread across his face. I don’t remember exactly what he said but mentioned that his buddy had requested this beer one night while they were at a bar. The woman working told them, “Oh yeah, we’ve got those in a cooler in the back.” He’s told this story numerous times because my dad and aunt were both familiar with the story. You can imagine how he pronounced it when he told the story hence why the shy smile came across his face as I imagined him looking every time he told the story- from the time he left the bar in Michigan in 1950-something to now in 2021.

He confessed he never tried the beer, and I just laughed and said, “It doesn’t sound too good, does it?”, playing along with his inside dirty joke. Now, I can’t seem to get this beer out of my head. I had decided I would try to find it so that he and I could try it for the first time together and have our own inside joke. I found it online and unfortunately, it cannot be shipped to Alabama! However, it continues to plague my mind. if only I could just get a six pack or one for that matter. I fantasized about it being a memory we would share together even if we just took one sip each and laughed afterwards. From my research, this beer is brewed out of St. Louis, Missouri and has a very interesting history. Here is the link in case you are interested- http://www.gb-beer.com/. 

With the 4th of July just three days ago, it got me thinking about the words, pursuit of happiness. What did our founding fathers have in mind when the wrote the Declaration of Independence? I find the phrase The Pursuit of Happiness to be purely objective and maybe that’s what they had in mind when they wrote these words. I again got to thinking about my granddad and what his pursuit of happiness might have looked like when he was a child, a teen, a young adult, and now as an old man. What did my own pursuit of happiness look like? Was I pursuing it or just daydreaming about?

I think overtime our pursuits change as our priorities change. For my granddad, what may have been important sitting at that bar in Michigan, may have been replaced with just getting through the day to day without the love of your life by his side. I find I am my happiest when I’m with my family as I once thought I wanted to live in Washington D.C., far away from them.

For now, I will continue to dream up ways to get my granddad a six pack of Griesedieck™ Beer and to help him find a new pursuit of happiness. I am headed to Nola later in the week and maybe just maybe, I’ll find some.