Valentine’s Day and other time-sensitive topics delayed my writing about this, but a few weeks ago marked the 50th anniversary of the death of my grandfather, Carl Spencer Tyree.

I’m juggling a lot of plates, but very few days go by that I don’t think of “Paw.”

“Ornery,” “opinionated,” “contrary” and “irascible” are some of the words people have used to describe him over the years; but I choose to take a more nuanced look at the forces that shaped him.

Both of his grandfathers fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. His first wife died soon after deliveri...