February 21, 2021
UNPACKING
A LIFE
Growing up there were 4 black and white
photographs hanging on their living
room wall: his parents wedding portrait,
a family photo of a family picnic,
a grandfather in a baseball uniform,
and 4 cousins as kids in a playpen.
It was that baseball player who was the icon –
the key photograph. It was his grandfather
who almost made it to the major leagues.
He was the only one in his generation who went
to college and went to war. And he brought his
mom’s generation – 3 daughters – into the story.
For some reason – in his 40’s – he began to
unpack his grandpa’s - the baseball player’s story.
We could do this for anyone – but in this story
it was done for the baseball player’s story.
He found out that his grandfather had thoughts
of becoming a priest, a piano player, or a sculptor.
His grandfather – he found out – was an introvert –
who left lots of poetry, lots of photos, 5 books of
journals – stories about visiting the aged in 2 nursing
homes, raising a family – but there was nothing about his job as an executive in an insurance company.
“Wow, that’s a whole lifetime to
unpack.”
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021
