He made these bookends by melting down a ford truck engine. He poured the metal into a cast of Lincoln. I asked him what he used to melt the engine and all he said was, "fire." Fair enough.
He captured this boat in WWII. Grandpa's the one on with the machine gun. He and his shipmate went exploring (they were somewhere in the Pacific) and found a boat that was being secretly built inland, so they captured it.
He saw Louis Armstrong in concert. You never did that. I've seen a LOT of great music (Clapton, B.B. King, Robert Plant...), but none of it can compare to Satchmo.
He taught me to love God and science. In his day these two things were not by pushed apart by society. Grandpa was an engineer and a church deacon. He could (and would) diagram an airplane wing to demonstrate lift or talk about water chemistry to explain why the coffee was bland that day, but he was just as likely to explain the Resurrection or something theological.
He knew Johnny Cash. It was back in Cash's wilder days so my grandpa wasn't exactly a fan, but it makes him cooler than you.
He hired women to do men's work. My grandfather was in charge of people at a large company that handled engineering and technological challenges all over the world. Long before it was cool, he hired women to solve engineering problems and oversee building crews. I grew up hearing his stories of women who were computer programmers and scientists.
He introduced me to Columbo. And I learned that TV's best detective was Grandpa's inspiration for everything. Everything.
He couldn't afford a radio when he was younger so he built one. (Not pictured.) I don't even know how to start making my own radio. Not a problem - he was always ready to explain the process. I still don't get it.
He stopped to smell the flowers. That's not just a saying - he actually did that. Why pass by a bloom when you can pause to take in the smell? Isn't that what flowers are for? Mind you, it wasn't easy for him to bend over like that due to his age and some severe back troubles, but he thought it was worth it. He also collected art and listened to jazz records, because life should be beautiful.
He retired and then spent time every day feeding the needy. Until his back gave out, my grandparents spent every morning collecting food and giving it to a local charity group. It wasn't easy on grandpa because his body was in bad shape, but he never complained. How many mouths did they feed? A lot more than I can take credit for.
He went everywhere. Russia. Hawaii. Borneo. Poland. Italy. You name it and Grandpa had been there.
He stole hundreds of rolls of toilet paper in the war. His crewmates were out of paper, but a nearby ship had plenty and wouldn't share - Grandpa took care of that. I've kept his secret until now.
He taught me to love jazz. If that's not cool then I don't know what is.
He enjoyed cartoons. As a result, I didn't always know that cartoons were for children. (Apparently no one ever told grandpa, either.) The bigger lesson? Do what you want - even if it's unpopular - and you'll be happier.
He once took me to the park and we played with a little wooden plane that was powered by a rubber band. It was fun, even though the darned thing wouldn't fly straight. When the plane finally flew into the sunset like it was supposed to we both nearly shed a tear. If I could go back in time and re-live one day, it might be that one.
1 comment:
Your Grandpa wins. I will never be as cool as him. My Dad might give him a run for his money, but your Grandpa would edge him out on jazz points. (Dad's a fan of classic country and southern gospel.)
On my first recording, a co-worker at the Postal Service played saxophone on a couple of songs, and at one time he had played with Count Basie. That's about as close to cool as I will ever come, I think.
Nice tribute, Adam.
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