L,
One day in October I looked outside and saw two black bears. These black bears looked a little strange. After I watched them for a time, I realized the reason they looked strange to me was they were dressed in flannel shirts and bib overalls, the type of overalls farmers wore when I was your age. Because they were sitting in our back yard, I thought I would go outside and introduce myself. So I put an oxygen tank on my wheelchair, rolled down the ramp, out the garage, and went around the house to the back yard.
I introduced myself and they told me their names were Harry and Tom. They said they were brothers and that Tom was the older brother. They told me they came from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and were traveling south for the winter. Well I said that if they were tired they were welcome to stay and spend some time at our house. They said they appreciated the offer and because yes they were a bit tired from traveling, they would accept my offer.
When they told me they had a tent I suggested they put it up in the trees at the back of our yard. Later that evening when it was getting dark, I noticed a small campfire and what smelled like hot chocolate and a camp stew cooking. It appeared that Harry and Tom were all settled in for a lovely evening with a nice campfire, hot chocolate, stew and all the tinkling stars above them. Seeing them so comfortable made me glad I was able to offer them the use of the back yard. I had a hard time going to sleep that night because I was so happy that Harry and Tom had decided to stay. I could hardly wait for the next day to arrive so I could go out and visit with Harry and Tom again.
What color do you think their tent is? Can you draw a picture of Harry and Tom standing by their tent?
Until next time,
Grandpa Pippy
Friday, May 18, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Intoduction
Harry and Tom the introduction.
When C and K told us we would be Grandparents, I started thinking about how my father would send his children a weekly email. In his emails Dad would tell about his youth growing up in IL. I decided that writing a weekly email about my youth might not interest a young child. One day, while sitting in my wheel chair looking out the window at the row of trees in the back yard, I decided to write a weekly story.
I wanted these stories to contain several things. They had to be interesting allowing the reader to use their imagination. I wanted the stories to invite the reader to interact with the story. The stories are written to illustrate how we can and should help each other. Finally, I wanted the stories to show that even though someone may be handicapped we can include them in our everyday activities.
It took several months of thinking of different ideas. I would come up with an idea, think about it and try to tell a story. While some ideas worked better than others did none seemed to meet the goals I had. One day I decided to tell a story about two black bears. The black bears seemed promising and after a couple months they formed personalities and seemed to fill the goals I had set forth for my stories. Thus Harry and Tom were born.
I am not certain that I will be able to achieve all these goals. However, I am going to try. So these stories will be part of my legacy to my grandchildren.
Pippy
When C and K told us we would be Grandparents, I started thinking about how my father would send his children a weekly email. In his emails Dad would tell about his youth growing up in IL. I decided that writing a weekly email about my youth might not interest a young child. One day, while sitting in my wheel chair looking out the window at the row of trees in the back yard, I decided to write a weekly story.
I wanted these stories to contain several things. They had to be interesting allowing the reader to use their imagination. I wanted the stories to invite the reader to interact with the story. The stories are written to illustrate how we can and should help each other. Finally, I wanted the stories to show that even though someone may be handicapped we can include them in our everyday activities.
It took several months of thinking of different ideas. I would come up with an idea, think about it and try to tell a story. While some ideas worked better than others did none seemed to meet the goals I had. One day I decided to tell a story about two black bears. The black bears seemed promising and after a couple months they formed personalities and seemed to fill the goals I had set forth for my stories. Thus Harry and Tom were born.
I am not certain that I will be able to achieve all these goals. However, I am going to try. So these stories will be part of my legacy to my grandchildren.
Pippy
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