My Grandfather Retires Today

If you're tired of reading or hearing about the b.s. that passes for news in our papers and televisions, read this. I'm biased, but this is a life worth reading about.

My 82 year old grandfather is working his last day today. The fact that it's a Saturday would seem unusual if he hadn't worked 363 days a year (Easter and Christmas off) for longer than I've been alive.

He was born in Palermo, Sicily and moved to Buffalo, New York when he was 6. His dad was a very successful bootlegger. Old country Italians who made their money in this fashion apparently didn't trust american banks. He loves telling the story about when he was a kid helping his mom did up milk bottles full of cash in the basement prior to their move to Los Angeles.  His dad paid cash for his two older brothers to go to Medical School, one at USC and one at UCLA.

My grandfather dropped out of school at age 15 and eventually he took a factory job to support the war effort. He met my grandmother there. She was working as a riveter in an aircraft factory. He was one of 4 or 5 guys who would run around lifting heavy stuff for the women who worked there (I think he lied about his age to her too.....we're not really sure of his exact age!). In his 20's he started his own company with a little help from his dad. I think he gave him $2000. By the 1970's his company was worth millions. He moved it to Las Vegas where he built and owned dozens of apartment complexes. He worked 7 days a week, both running the businees and managing the apartments. I'll probably never know what happened (maybe old school Italian hard-headed tactics didn't blend well with modern business), but by 1986 he was bankrupt. Chapter 7 including the business, properties, and his home. I'm less impressed with the millions he made than I am with what he did after he lost everything.

At age 63 he took jobs washing dishes at a restaurant and as a custodian at a hotel. It didn't take long for the owner of the restaurant to figure out he was no average dishwasher. The owner put him to work in his business office, first running errands and eventually he began managing parts of his business. I remember thinking this might be a bad idea! At age 68 he was able to save enough to pay cash for a small house. He had this thing about swimming pools. A house has to have a pool. This house had a yard but no pool. My grandfather knew how to use a shovel. Over the next two years, a little bit every night, he dug a hole for a pool. When his employer came over for dinner one night and saw what he had been up to he must have been moved to do something. The next day a truck of workers showed up and finished the job in relatively short order. Grandpa then moved on to landscaping. He had this thing for palm trees....

I firmly believe the only reason he is giving up work is because my grandmother can no longer walk without assistance and he doesn't like leaving anyone else to take care of her. Wednesday he paid cash for a minivan that will allow him to drive her to the doctor himself. He drove my uncle's car to work today. He said, "That's probably the last car I'll ever by. I'll be damned if I'm driving it to work."

We joke about our lists of stuff Chuck Norris or Jack Bauer can "do". I think we secretly wish there really were people who could do the stuff on those lists because we're sick of hearing about what celebrity is divorcing what other celebrity, or even worse, which movie star is spewing his expert opinion on world politics. These people are not important to me. Knowing where I come from and having some clue as to why I'm wired the way I'm wired  is far more important. I wouldn't trade his story for all of the information that passes for newsworthy. I'm curious to see what he does with all of the time he'll have on his hands. He still has the shovel.....and you can never have too many palm trees.