My grandfather doesn't talk very much, but when he does, he always has something interesting to say. We (me, mom and grandma) were talking about a friend of my grandmother's whose grandchild was having discipline problems. My grandfather chimes in (unusual) and said,"You never know about kids. Why, about 25 years ago, I was working in the shop with this gal and her husband was a welder. Every time we had a welding problem, we'd call Ronnie and he'd come over and fix it. He got sick and was gone about 6 weeks later, leaving Donna with three boys that were 12, 14 and 16. Well, the boys started staying out all night getting into trouble and Donna didn't know what to do. She said to me,'Will you go have a talk with the boys?' I didn't know what I was going to say, but I went. I sat them down and said,' Now there's things that need to be done in the house and you boys need to divide up the tasks and rotate them to keep the house running."
He gave them some lists and then went on his way.
As he 's telling the story, he starts to tear up and says,"The other day, I was in Value Home Center (one of his favorite hang outs) and this man comes up to me and says,'Mr. S., you are the one who talked to my brothers and I and I just wanted to thank you and let you know it all worked out!"
Very cool. A man of few words, said the right thing at the right time and three boys got through the death of their father and adolescence a lot easier.
6 comments:
What a great story. And how wonderful that the man came back and thanked your grandfather :)
Wow. Sounds like it came right out of a movie. It sounds like a great beginning or ending of a story that warms the heart. How old is your Grandpa? What is the age difference between him and the boys he talked to? In my imagination I see an older man(one of the brothers) thanking a much older man (your grandfather). Thanks for sharing that.
He was probably 60 when it happened and that would put the "boys" in their late thirties/early forties. My grandfather is in his 80's now.
He has a lot of movie-like stories.
Hope you are feeling well, Jess!
A question that goes back to your days as Mama Cairo: I'm looking for La Leche contacts in Cairo, do you still know anyone there that I could get in touch with? Looking for someone to help out with some first-time breast feeding questions.
I don't know anyone, but Connie might. In fact, Connie breastfed two kids so she might be able to help. I will email her to ask if she knows of an LLL group or can find out.
E-mail me at mamaseoul at gmail dot com
so I can e-mail you if she comes back with any personal contacts.
Connie said that they might know at CSA:
http://www.livinginegypt.org/Default.aspx?base
CSA is a great resource for expats for many things anyway. Connie has a friend who is breastfeeding currently who knows where to get supplies, etc. If you e-mail me, I can send you their contacts.
mamaseoul at gmail dot com
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