Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Don't Bother the Old Man


I was thinking the other day about my grandfather on my dad's side of the family. He grew up in the South shortly after the end of the Civil War, rode freight trains throughout the South and the West, worked in San Francisco right after the earthquake, and arrived in Arizona before statehood. Once there, he peddled vegetables and delivered mail before starting a cotton farm which he kept during the Great Depression and beyond.

It's fortunate that none of his grandchildren ever pestered him for stories about his life.

After all, we wouldn't have wanted to be impolite.

2 comments:

Dan in Philly said...

My grandfather never finished high school, worked as a welder, and fought in WW2. He was also one of the smartest and well read men I've ever know. The biggest favor that any teacher ever did for me is when I was in 4th grade, I got an assignment to interview one of my grandparents about his life. If I hadn't, I never would have know much about his very interesting life.

Michael Wade said...

Daniel,

What a great assignment!

I wish I'd done that with my grandfather.

Michael