Mikew777
Registered
Child of the depression. World War II Vet who stayed after and hunted down nazi officers. A God-fearing man, who instilled righteous values in his kids. And simply made you a better person by being in the room. When I was a child he showed up on Christmas morning (6am) with gifts for my sister and I. He stayed for about a half-hour had some coffee and breakfast and then he went back home to Grandma. I always wondered why he would have made such a long trip, they lived four hours away from us so it was an 8 Hour round trip. Not until I was an adult that I find out my parents were just short financially at the time. And he wasn't about to let us miss the wonders of Christmas morning. He was a very thoughtful caring and loving man. Tough-as-nails and gentle is the breeze. Through our common faith in Jesus Christ I am guaranteed to see him again in Eternity. And that is the greatest gift my Grandpa gave me.
#1 this made me tear up and I don't cry. Not that I'm a tough guy but it is just not something that happens.
#2 I missed this before it happened but like nosbig I don't "need" anything right now so I would have passed like he did and I commend him for not being greedy.
#3 This is very selfless and I like it. Even though I didn't win anything I want to thank you for what you did. You made people's day and that makes mine.
#4 Grips and a seat?!?!?!? These things are needed!!! That is what this is all about to me, giving a gift that is needed. Not something like chrome or led light kit.
Not trying to steal the thread but I want to tell a story. As a kid I didn't have it rough. My parents weren't rich by any means but we didn't go without. My parents growing up, they were pretty poor. They sometimes did go without. A decent christmas gift to them may be a sweater for winter and that would be it. So when I was a young kid, each year during christmas time my parents would take us to the mall. They would have a christmas tree with tags on it. On each tag was a name of a child and what they wanted for christmas. Needless to say these kids weren't going to get much if anything from their parents for christmas. My 2 sisters and I would pick a name/gift that we would buy with our allowance. To this day I buy christmas gifts every year for the less fortunate. Not only does it remind me of being a kid again but I don't want a child to think that they were bad because santa didn't bring them anything or that no one cares. I don't want a child to have a memory of a year that they didn't get christmas gifts. To me, that is not cool because no matter what the situation it is not the child's fault that they are not getting present. I don't do this to get any thanks. I personally don't give the gifts to the children. We either buy for families and those families give the gifts to their children or sometimes give to an organization that brings in santa and lets the children get the presents from him.
I am very happy my parents did this with us because I learned that there are families worse off than me. I honestly don't care if the parents are thankful or not that we give but I imagine those kids on christmas morning are super excited santa came and they got a few presents. Those kids are what is all about.
Again, I appreciate you doing this and my condolences about your grandpa.