Legacy
Saturday found me at home with the kids and wife gone to visit family and me in the shop getting caught up on some work. I had biodiesel I was working on for a little bit and the biodiesel heater took some tweaking. Then I was over in the metalworking side of the shop working on a project for a friend of mine. As I was measuring and cutting and threading and whatnot I got to thinking about why I enjoy this time in the shop. I came to the conclusion that the entire reason I had a shop out there at all was really because of my grandfather.
Gerald Lafayette Welsh or Gra as we all called him was brought up in a steelworking town in Pennsylvania. From the earliest stories I heard from him, he worked at "the mill." That was the center of the world in that small town. He married my grandmother, Gommie, and they both headed for work in California during World War II. After arriving there, the job he was promised didn't materialize, but he quickly found work and they raised their family. My earliest memories of Gra were always about him coming over to visit and fixing things.
That was always what was said in my house, "wait 'til Gra comes by, he'll fix it." And he did. Anything that was broken, Gra would come by for a few days and it'd be fixed. That completely fascinated me, how he could innately understand how something was put together so he could understand how to fix that thing. As a kid, I worked diligently on the whole how it was put together portion...the putting it back together part was harder for me. Fast forward to today and I have a metal lathe and milling machine along with a host of welding and fabrication equipment in the shop. Heck, the entire reason I wanted a shop can be traced back to Gra's influence on me when I was younger.
Which gets me to wondering what kind of legacy I am leaving for my children. Are they learning the value of education and hard work from me? Do they understand the principle of treating all people fairly? I certainly hope so.
As we get ready for Christmas this year, we were sitting having dinner and I told everybody in the family about the fact that some kids this year are struggling to have presents for Christmas. Here at Novell they partner with a local group that helps make lists of families with children that are just unable to provide some Christmas presents for them. I asked everybody if they wanted to help out a family by getting them gifts. That was a resounding yes, but I really wanted to make it personal for the kids, so I told them in order for us to help this family out they would each have to give up one of the gifts they receive for Christmas to give to the kids who won't have Christmas. That caused them to stop and think for a bit. I was very proud of them when they all three agreed to give something up to help those less fortunate.
I hope my legacy is a good one.
Gerald Lafayette Welsh or Gra as we all called him was brought up in a steelworking town in Pennsylvania. From the earliest stories I heard from him, he worked at "the mill." That was the center of the world in that small town. He married my grandmother, Gommie, and they both headed for work in California during World War II. After arriving there, the job he was promised didn't materialize, but he quickly found work and they raised their family. My earliest memories of Gra were always about him coming over to visit and fixing things.
That was always what was said in my house, "wait 'til Gra comes by, he'll fix it." And he did. Anything that was broken, Gra would come by for a few days and it'd be fixed. That completely fascinated me, how he could innately understand how something was put together so he could understand how to fix that thing. As a kid, I worked diligently on the whole how it was put together portion...the putting it back together part was harder for me. Fast forward to today and I have a metal lathe and milling machine along with a host of welding and fabrication equipment in the shop. Heck, the entire reason I wanted a shop can be traced back to Gra's influence on me when I was younger.
Which gets me to wondering what kind of legacy I am leaving for my children. Are they learning the value of education and hard work from me? Do they understand the principle of treating all people fairly? I certainly hope so.
As we get ready for Christmas this year, we were sitting having dinner and I told everybody in the family about the fact that some kids this year are struggling to have presents for Christmas. Here at Novell they partner with a local group that helps make lists of families with children that are just unable to provide some Christmas presents for them. I asked everybody if they wanted to help out a family by getting them gifts. That was a resounding yes, but I really wanted to make it personal for the kids, so I told them in order for us to help this family out they would each have to give up one of the gifts they receive for Christmas to give to the kids who won't have Christmas. That caused them to stop and think for a bit. I was very proud of them when they all three agreed to give something up to help those less fortunate.
I hope my legacy is a good one.
posted by Pastor Tom at 8:21 AM
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