Grandpa Don’s Gift

Grandpa Don was the subject of my first personal history video, which I made for his and Grandma Ethel’s 60th anniversary. He didn’t say much, preferring to let her tell the stories. Until he was able to tell me about his cars. He had a list of every car he ever owned with what he paid for it and what he sold it for.  He talked about how hard it was to find a car after he came back from the war and how he had to junk the first couple he bought.

The family used to draw names at Christmas. One year grandpa asked me what I would like so he could tell the person who got my name. I said “if it was you I’d like you to make me something.” He was a carpenter and had made other things for the family. He was a child of the depression who valued saving and fixing and repairing stuff over buying new. 

Christmas came and I opened my gift, it was a one-foot stool. On the bottom, written on an envelope, because why buy paper when they send it with the junk mail for free?, were the words “this is made out of recycled wood, stretch a buck.” He had made the whole thing from wood he had on hand. To be fair, I think he had enough scrap wood in his house to build a whole new house. This is one of my favorite gifts, and I still cherish it. 

If you see me at an event where I am showing my videos you can ask to see the stool, as the television I use fits on it perfectly!
 
If you follow Lead Sheep Productions on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), you know that this month, we are celebrating the men in our lives. It is incredible when we take time to understand and realize how much each person has contributed to our story.