Saturday, July 19 2008
Celebrating
Floyd Vandergrift
Strange as it may seem, not all celebrations involve wine for me. Sometimes they just . . . celebrate. It was my father's 75th birthday last Thursday, and we toasted with friends and family.
I may not have turned out a lot like my Dad, at least on the surface, but he taught me a great number of things. He taught me how to rebuild carburettors, make a garden, chat up girls, appreciate a joke, and above all he taught me (by example) to enjoy myself, whether it was chatting up girls or working on cars. It's Dad's great capacity for taking pleasure in life that I've valued most.
He also taught me the most important lesson about generosity I'll ever learn. When I was a kid working on my first car, an old beater Chevy, I repaired the radiator but forgot to replace the water I used for testing it with proper anti-freeze. The first frost we had cracked the engine block like an egg. I was terribly dismayed, as I needed the car to get back and forth to my new job, and I couldn't afford to buy a new engine–certainly not a new car.
Dad lent me the money to buy a used engine, and we rebuilt it together, and (with a lot of coaching and advice from friends, neighbours and shadetree mechanics of all stripes) we got it dropped into the car and running great, all in a couple of days.
Finally I got my first paycheque and I paid him back every dime, leaving me with only enough gas money for two weeks, and not a penny more. When I handed him the cash he handed a twenty right back.
"Pop, what are you doing?"
"I remember being in about your situation, getting a payday and being left without even enough money to go out for a beer. Go on, don't tell your mother."
I'll never forget the funny smile he had. I've done my best bring that kind of generosity into my life, and if I'm ever uncertain about something I'm doing or have to make a judgement on, I only have to ask, "If Pop were here, would he be proud of me?"
It answers every question. Happy birthday, Dad, and thanks for everything.
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