It never fails; when my dad comes for a visit I am always reminded where I get some of my quirkiness from. He tells stories from his past that are often very entertaining. Usually, he laughs so hard that we
all have to laugh. Sometimes, last night included, I think he's going to laugh himself to death!
Saturday night, I made a hamburger soup with homemade rolls and salad for dinner. As we ate, Cameron kept asking grampa to share his childhood stories with us. All were fun to listen to. He always reiterates that he was taught to tell the truth. If he told his parents the truth, no matter what it was, he wouldn't get in trouble. One day, his mother gave him an envelope of money to give for a donation at church. As he walked to church, he ran into his cousin Ginny. She asked him what was in the envelope and had him open it. Then, instead of going to church, they went down the street to a market where they spent the money on candy. This happened week after week until his mother asked him where the reciepts for the donations were. He told her what he had been doing and was set aright again. Grandpa tells this story laughing all the way.
Another story that made us all laugh was the time he learned about strangers. His mom had taught him not to take candy from strangers; Really bad things could happen. One day, they had gone for a drive and stopped to find a place to eat lunch or explore. It seems to me that it was in or near the woods. Well, he and his brothers left the car and ran through the woods to explore when they found a road. Down the road, grampa could see a car that looked like his parents'. His brothers decided to run back to their parent's car. My dad, being about 5 years old at the time, thought he was being smart and that he would run down the road to the car, beating his brothers there. He said, "I'll race you!" After getting to the car that he thought belonged to his family, he discovered a woman that wasn't his mother. She offered to give him a ride and take him to his parents. He thought nothing of it and got into the car. As they drove, the woman asked him, "would you like some candy?" Then he remembered his mom's counsel to never take candy from a stranger. My dad immediately started to kick and scream, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" He was terrified and says he thought he would never see his family again. The nice woman found his family and he was so glad when he was with them again. (We laughed and laughed as he told this story).
It is always nice to hear Granmpa's stories. He also shared about a time when he was sitting in Sunday School with his mother. He was misbehaving in his class and had to go to her class. While there, he listened as the minister talked about God and described him as a spirit that can be all places at once. Grampa was confused. He remembers vividly walking home and thinking about what he was taught. He looked over a bridge on his way home and said out loud, "I don't believe it." Years later as a high school student, he was attending a seminary class with his friends who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There, he learned about the story of the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon. Suddenly the nature of God made sense to him. He learned that God has a body of flesh and bone, and we are created after His image. He learned that the Holy Ghost testifies of God and Christ and can be felt in every heart. He remembered the experience he had a a boy and knew that God was more than a spirit and what he had learned in seminary that day was true. It changed his life forever.
After the stories, Elise asked Grampa to play "SORRY" with her. So, the little kids and Grampa(who is a very big kid), played. We were glad he stopped by to see us for a little bit. It's always fun when Grampa comes!
