
I received an Email this morning from my Dad's step brother. This is a man that I have never met and my father had not talked to in over 30 years. My father is still very angry at his step brother for things that happened a very long time ago, I think his feelings maybe justified, but how long do you hold a grudge? Anyway here is the Email I received, and my response to it.
Received:
"JS,
I could not believe my eyes when I came across your face book page while looking for information about XXXX city firefighters, you are the spitting image of your father when he was younger. My 15 year old son has asked questions about his grandfather and I have been searching the internet for some info or pictures of my father so I can show him, that’s how I came upon your page. All the pictures that I had were lost in my many moves across this country. I did find a picture of him in a book about XXXX city firefighters, but that’s all I found. I don’t know if you have ever heard of me or what you have heard but I spent a lot of my childhood holidays and weekends with your father, you see the grandfather that you speak of with such admiration who inspired you to be a firefighter was my father. My mother and father were divorced when I was young but I use to visit my father a lot when your grandmother Rita and he lived on 5 points in XXXX city. I also remember times spent with them at a little neighbor hood bar they owned called The Panama CafĂ© and of course I remember the firehouse. I know you don’t know me from Adam but if you have any pictures of my father I would be very grateful if you could post them or send some to me in an e-mail. I would really like to show them to my son, he has no living Grandparents nor has he ever met any of them, they had all passed away before he was born. If you have questions of me I would be more than happy to answer them. It sounds like, (from your blog) that you have a lot of love and respect for parents as it should be. When you see your father please tell him I said hello and I wish him well.
Best regards,
JW "
Replied:
"JW,
Let me start by saying that I was very surprised when I saw your Email. I have some of grandpas things and a couple of photos. I will NOT part with any of these items. My Dad has a great deal more photos of him. I sent my Mom on a mission to dig up as many old photos of Grandpa as she can find. She loved your father very much as well. I'll be honest with you, getting any help from my Dad or Aunt Kathy with this task will not happen. They are both still very upset about the past, and won't let it go. I wasn't there so that is between you guys. Besides it was over 31 years ago, and if my math is correct you were only about 20 when Grandpa passed. I think its great that your son wants to know about his grandfather.
I would like to ask you a few questions. Where are you now? What do you do for a living? Are you married? and how many children do you have? Just wondering, have you ever been to his grave? I try to keep his headstone clean and visit his grave site a couple times a year with my sister and 2 cousins.
Let me tell you about the stuff of his that I do have. I have his dog tags, medals, and his division ring from World War II. Other than the ring, the other stuff is packed away and will take some time to locate as I have moved recently. I also have his LT bars from his hat, his class a uniform tie bar and other misc. uniform parts from the Fire Department. His tie bar is on my Class A uniform. I also have some copies of stuff from his personal file at the Fire Department. I used to work for the XXXX city Fire Dept and was able to gain access to his file at fire headquarters. I have copies of 2 injury reports, his dept death notice, firemans fund beneficiary paper. I have taken some pics of these thing and will include in this email.
Let me tell you a little about my Grandpa, your father. My Dad never really new his birth father, he was only 4 when he died. Grandpa was the only Dad he knew, and to this day, 31 years later he still can't talk about him without tearing up. He loved him very much and still talks about him often. My mother just adored him, and he was pretty fond of her. Everybody I talk to about him always said how great of a guy he was. The guys on his crew at work loved him as well. The very first Fire job I ever got was because of him. My Chief served under Grandpa as a probationary firefighter, Grandpa was his Lt. His memories of Grandpa got me that Job. He was a good man.
I will be more than happy to answer any question that you may have. Feel free to ask.
JS"
Please tell me, what are your thoughts? JS