The Legacy
This is a true story....
I have a step-father
When he came into my life I was a rebellious teen.
Like so many step-fathers and step-sons,
he and I never saw eye-to-eye
There were many times I think we would have liked to beat each other up
rather than listen to the others point of view on life.
I saw him as an uneducated oaf
that had nothing to offer me or my mom
and he saw me as a young man without direction.
But he did his best to tell me what he thought a man should be.
I never listened.
I wanted to be a rich man when I grew up.
He was a simple mechanic
with nothing to his name
but a pickup truck and some tools.
That was many years ago.
He had a heart attack about three months ago,
not a very big one,
but enough to put a scare into everyone who knew him.
He smiled and said he was fine
He had an stomach-ulcer that kept bleeding
and this lead to another heart attack.
When he went into the hospital
they ran all the tests they could on him
and he said with a smile
"I am fine."
They found stomach cancer
and it had spread into some lymph nodes and the fatty tissue around his stomach.
They ,to use his words,
"Gutted him like a fish."
The pain after the operation was tremendous,
but as soon as he could speak he said.
"I am fine."
As a result of his illness
he lost his job.
He just could not work in the Florida heat anymore.
He said it was "fine."
He is now receiving Chemo-therapy and radiation treatments.
You can tell he is in pain and does not feel well.
But if you ask him how he is he always says,
"I am fine."
He moved in with us,
He and Mom are divorced now.
"Because it was just easier to get to treatments." he said.
( Really not wanting to be alone
or wanting to admit he could not afford to live elsewhere.)
and we said, "We could make him eat."
( Really not wanting him to be alone and silently
knowing he could not afford to live elsewhere.)
He came and brought his
Pickup truck with his tool box in the back.
The two things he owned.
Two weeks ago,
while he was on the phone to his doctor
(caused by a clerical error)
and trying to arrange to continue receiving his
radiation and chemo-therapy,
while he got things straight with the
insurance company,
my girlfriend came in the house and asked my step-father
"Where is your truck?"
"It should be out there in the driveway. "he said.
It was not.
Someone had come in the night and taken his pickup truck, with all his tools in back.
Someone had ridden off with the only two things this man owned outright.
He had a check book in his brief case that
was in the cab of the truck.
He only had a few hundred dollars in his checking account,
but whoever took the truck
managed to cash enough checks to overdraw the account.
He is now penniless.
But with a smile he will tell you
"It will be fine."
This morning he and I sat on the patio,
Me drinking my morning's coffee
and planning my day out,
he just watching the sun rise.
I could sense he was feeling "off".
When I asked him how he was,
He responded with a simple smile and a
"I am fine"
He was fibbing but that is okay.
Then pensively
he started to tell me about
tools.
How to tell a good one from a bad one.
Who makes the best,
who makes the worst,
who makes them too expensive,
who makes them cheap,
who gives the best service,
who gives the worst,
who makes the best tool box,
who made the tool box he lost when his truck was stolen
and why he picked that one.
He told me about all the tools he had,
and why he had those specifically.
What jobs they were bought for
and why.
With lots of "best tool for the job"
and " right tool for the right job " thrown in here and there.
A couple hours went by in this fashion.
And that is when it hit me.
That all this man had to his name
was a series of stories,
of life experiences,
of knowledge passed down from his father to him,
and he was leaving it to me !
It was his Legacy,
the most precious thing he had
and he wanted me to have it
when he was gone.
I hope we have many more mornings
like the one
he and I
shared today.
I can't help but wonder
how much more of this type of wealth he would have left me
if I had taken the time
to listen
when I was a young man who needed direction.
I am richer today because of the things he has told me.
How much richer would I be
if I had listened all along?
If he does leave this earth soon
I will miss him
more than I would have ever imagined.
And I will remember,
and be thankful for
his
Legacy.
please pass this on, I think he would like to leave his legacy to everyone if he could.
Gregory Sanetz passed away quietly after a long battle with Stomach Cancer
Thank you and God bless.
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