He told me  that many years ago my “abuelo” brought to his home a young man covered in dust, {sounds familiar?} dirty and hungry.
My sassy grandma was not happy about it { she always made me laugh so hard, I have the spunk of  my Abuela Ramona} and told my Grandpa that he had to STOP bringing people over that he didn’t know…
{my mom is just like her dad}

“One day – grandma said – something is going to be stolen”

According to this gentlemen my grandpa’s answer was…
” Ramona… Ramona…
Thing are just things…. they come and they go.”

So in the end the young man stayed in the house and spent the night there.
My grandpa was a fisherman, so he left as he normally did before sunrise to throw the nets
 and when he came back early morning he found at his home a police officer
that our family knew well { I am talking about a little village } holding the
young men by the arm and my grandma ready to prove her point.

The first words Abuela said were pretty much a repetition
from the night before…

“I told you Marcial…
I have told you ONE Thousand  TIMES…
that one day something was going to get stolen”

My grandpa look at the table were the police officer pointed to a
trophy that this young man had stolen from the great collection that my grandpa had
as a well known  sailor…

The gentleman then  told me that he will never forget what my grandpa did next…

He left the room and came back just a few seconds later  with a bigger and more valuable  trophy in his hands… Looking into the very soul of this young man and extending the trophy to him my grandpa said…

“Here son… you forgot the other one I gave you”

The young boy took it without saying a word and just like that he left…

My question to this gentleman was …

So he didn’t steal it?

Yes, he did… but such act of kindness changed the life of that young man…

How do you know that?


With his eyes then cover with tears he said:
I am the kid.

And then he added I am who I am { he is an incredible father, husband, friend and lawyer} because your grandfather saw in me something that I couldn’t see in myself.

I am not sure I’ll ever have the great gift that my wise grandfather had,
but I hope we all can take a minute and make the effort to see beyond the dusty layers,
the ugly sticks, the tags, the places where we see or  find people…
I hope we all can help others and ourselves to remove those “unwanted ruffles”
to try not just once, but even twice {if plan A didn’t work }
to restore the best in us and others.
I hope we never think it is too late to put back “those”
beautiful embellishments that made you, me  and everyone around us “YOUnique” in the very first place.

So grandpa this post is for you
in  memory of one of the best men I’ve ever met.
 He truly was and will always be EXTRAORDINARY to me.

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