Character

I never met my great grandpa, Joe Shafer. He would have been at least 100 years old by the time I was born in 1964. He must have been about 70 when my dad came into this world back in '32. My dad's grandfather lived on a farm up in the hills of Allegany County in southern New York state. He raised horses, loved to work in his garden (Grandma said he "didn't know enough to come in out of the rain.") and he taught my dad how to play the harmonica. I guess that harmonica is one of his longest lasting legacies as my dad is still playing it nearly 70 years later. I can't imagine growing up in a house without a harmonica playing. I love great grandpa's raggedy old clothes, his hat, walking stick, and the hands that look so much like my own father's, but what I love the best is the smile on Grandpa's face. I smile myself every time I look at the picture and think about what it must have been like to raise eleven children up there in the hills without all the modern conveniences of today, no washer or dryer, no dishwasher, no indoor plumbing, no disposable diapers!!, and no TV to "settle the kids down for a bit". They worked hard, played hard, and lived what we would think of as a hard life, but Grandpa's smiling face makes me wish we could go back to that simpler time when there weren't quite so many things to distract us from "the finer things in life". "Thank you Grandpa for leaving us your smile and a little glimpse into your place in this world."