Finding The Story: A Lesson From Pappy
If you’re like me, you have an adventure or two planned for this summer. I love the opportunities that the summer provides whether I decide toe keep it tame with day trips to some of the beautiful sights in the area opt for riskier trips like Vegas, cliff diving in Hawai’i, or figuring out what that smell in the garage is. No matter what the summer’s roadmap holds, I try to maintain the same goal. To come back with a story. Not just a story, but The Story. The Story of beautiful locations and people. The Story in which I came to some deeper understanding of myself and the world around me. The Story that is worth telling.
I often ask my students to tell me one of their stories, and I can hear many of you giving me the response they too frequently do. “I don’t have any stories. I’ve never adventured. I’m nobody from a small town in Northern Illinois.”
I respectfully disagree. I simply don’t believe that and if this was one of my normal columns, I would give you three or four fascinating examples to prove my point. This time around though, I’m only going to give you one. I’m going to tell you about my Grandpa, (Pappy.) He recently turned 94 years old and while he has spent the majority of that time within the borders of Stephenson County, he has never stopped finding his story.
When the Cubs emerged victorious last fall, Pappy had been literally waiting his entire life to see it happen. At an age when most of us are still struggling with shoe tying, he was riding the train in by himself to cheer on his team. To this day he could confound the mind with some of the events he’s seen and icons he’s come across. There aren’t too many other people who can say they’ve seen both Babe Ruth, and Michael Jordan play. Not to mention the close encounters with members of the ’85 Bears team or the cracked Willie Mays bat Pappy once had in the hallway closet. If you know anything about sports, Pappy has a story for you. Of course, his love of sports wasn’t always a positive.
Growing up, school was just a rest period between games of baseball for Pappy. By his own admitting, he never took school seriously and wasn’t a particularly good student. Then he took the entrance exam when he signed up for the military and scored well enough for West Point. Pappy didn’t pursue that particular path but still came back with plenty of stories, some of which even made the papers. The cases of champagne he liberated from the source, (Champagne, France) did not make the papers.
Since then, Pappy has found joy in the simple stories that come from things like starting a family, serving as president for the local United Way, and seeing all 50 states. He tried to retire once and 6 months later decided it was for the birds so he went back to work for 20 years. Even now, (at 94, remember) he’s working out at the gym nearly every day. That’s a man with some stories.
Which brings us back home to the idea of a story. As the summer approaches and the horizon calls out to you, remember my Pappy. He’ll be the first to admit, he’s just some guy, but he’s always kept his eyes open for the story. That’s the mindset I’d like to encourage. The stories are out there. All you have to do is watch for them and then dive in. They are yours to claim. And if you get the chance, ask Pappy to tell you a story.
