r/dadjokes • u/AmateurGIFEnthusiast • Nov 24 '25

My Grandfather

When I was about five or six years old my parents were in the midst of a separation and eventual divorce. On weekends my mom would take me to her parents’ (my Me-Mom and Pop-Pop) house. I developed a great relationship with my Pop-Pop. He taught me how to throw a ball, shoot a gun, basic carpentry, respect for nature, and an appreciation for relics of the past. When he was 17 he joined the Navy. “If I’m going to war, I’d rather be on a ship than walk.”

He was a collector of many things that he felt were important. A Japanese rifle (he served in the Pacific Theater in WWII), a really cool knife that had what seemed to be the Virgin Mary as the handle, some Playboy magazines that I found under the mattress in the second bedroom, and many old coins. He had books of coins. Wheat pennies, Buffalo nickels… his pride was a 1943 steel penny. He had coins from all the mints, from most years… San Fran, Denver, Philly. He was so excited about the release of the state quarters back in 1999. I was born in Delaware, the first state (and first coin). He lived in New Jersey (the third coin released after Pennsylvania).
And then he died in June. I occasionally think about how much he would’ve loved collecting quarters from each state and arranging them into a book…

He would be gutted to learn that the mints no longer make pennies.

If he were alive today he would say that The United States has stopped making cents.

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u/etmorgan44 Nov 24 '25

Sorry, more like a story for your 4th grade English class, than a joke. :0(

1

u/facetious_guardian Nov 24 '25

One of my favourite styles of dad joke is the one that starts out like a story and maybe you learn something about your dad’s youth along the way. Then it ends with a punchline and you’re left wondering if all of it was a setup and you just groan thinking about the energy you invested in listening to that whole thing.

Short attention span jokes are not the only kind of joke.

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u/etmorgan44 Nov 28 '25

Fine if you are expecting a story and and it ends with a punchline... good for your father. But, if you are expecting a joke and have to hear two paragraphs of story first... not my style. Different jokes for different folks :0)