Cool Stories?

[pope04]

I've got a story about my paternal grandfather that's, well, maybe not cool but interesting.

My grandparents were both German subjects that were living in Calgary, of all places. They met in the thirties, got married here in town and then moved to what was then Spanish Honduras. My grandfather was advised of a business opportunity down there by a friend.

While in Central America, things did not go well for my grandparents. My father was born - he was given a very "German" name (Karl Eduard) but when I checked out his birth certificate in his files after he died, it read Carlos Eduardo - but the business prospects were very rough. They appealed to the Canadian government but, since they were not Canadian, were offered no help.They asked the German government for help and assistance was offered by way of an interest-free loan so they could get back to Germany. There was a catch: my grandfather had to join the German military. After a few years in Honduras, my grandparents were unaware that Europe teetered on the precipice of war.

My grandmother lived in Kassel during the war with my father and an aunt that was born shortly after their arrival in Germany. The last time any of them saw my grandfather was when he came home to help them move out of the city just prior to the infamous bombing of Kassel in October of '43.

My wife's uncle, a bomber pilot during the war, passed away last March, and at the reception after his funeral we discovered that there's a pretty good chance that he participated in that raid on Kassel in '43. My wife took my hand and said, "And now we're a family."

It's funny how life turns out. My Dad's dead - he died in '02 - but as I indicated in a thread quite a while ago, we weren't particularly close. He'd never discuss the war. My grandmother's still with us: She'll be 98 in November, and over her bed she still has a picture of my grandfather. If you can believe it, she didn't have him declared dead until 1980, IIRC. She always held out hope that he'd come home somehow. She's alway maintained that the worst mistake she and my grandfather made was to leave Calgary for Honduras.

[the crispy badger]

When I was 10 my dad kept telling us that he couldn't get a specific number out his head for an entire Summer,he kept on saying the number was 171,We of course laughed at my dad for being such a nut until September of 85 when we discovered that my aunt and their 4 kids had their house catch on fire and lost my 7 and 13 year old cousins..and as you have probably guessed, the number of their house was 171...he had never met my aunt or ever would have know where they had lived.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by pope04

My wife's uncle, a bomber pilot during the war, passed away last March, and at the reception after his funeral we discovered that there's a pretty good chance that he participated in that raid on Kassel in '43. My wife took my hand and said, "And now we're a family."

Wow. That is a hell of a coincidence... Awesome story.

Reminds me of something that happened to my grandparents and uncle and aunt. The four of them were on a cruise (I think?) in the Carribean somewhere, eating dinner in the dining room.
My uncle was wearing a Swiss 700th birthday Tshirt. Another couple happened to notice it and they came over and asked if they were Swiss. Yes, they are (maternal side, not to be confused with the grandparents in the OP).
So a pretty common card game in the swiss community is Yuss (or Jass?). And anyway, the six of them got together to play some cards. They got to talking and it turned out that not only are they from the same place as one of my grandparents, their next door neighbours are the nephews of my grandmother. Small world.

[jolinar of malkshor]

My grandpa was a police officer in the Lethbridge Police Force. He retired there as a Superintendent (Now a days that rank would be deputy chief). Back in the day police cars only had the red lights on top of the police cars. If you weren't around in those days some of the older movies show this. Any how, he was from England and had relatives that lived there. He went to visit one year and noticed that all the police vehciles there only had a blue light. When he came back to Canada he proposed to the City of Lethbridge and the Provicinal Attorny General the idea of using both red and blue lights on the police vehicles. They accepted his plan and Lethrbidge was one of the first law enfocements agencies to adopt the red/blue lights.

My Grandpa also use to drive chuck wagons way back in the day. One time he had a big accident and was thrown from the chuck wagon and it ran over him. Being the typical cowboy he never sought medical attention. He was sick for a few weeks straight, throwing up and in severe pain. About 15 years later he had to get an x-ray taken and the doctor asked him when did he break his neck? This is the only event that my grandfather could image would have been the time that it could have happened.

[habernac]

My grandfather (Dad's dad) owned some land in southern Saskatchewan. He and his brother had to put up a fence on the property. They used a hand auger to dig the post holes. It was a mile or so long (maybe longer). After they had finished, the county fair came to town. They had one of those carnival games where you hit the plunger with a hammer and try to ring the bell at the top. The carnie paid Grandpa and his brother to go away as they kept knocking the bell off the top.



He was always known for his feats of strength, he used to pick up the back ends of steel wheeled tractors. He could also lift a full barrell of oil onto the back of a flat bed truck. It's amazing that he never had knee or back problems until he was well into his 80s.

[Dion]

Back in the late 70's my late father was coaching midget AA hockey. There was this one game where this parent kept screaming at my dad because his kid wasn't getting enough ice time. Anyhoo half way through the second period this kids father leaned over the glass and really started beaking off. My dad reached behind and grabbed thsi guy by the collar and hauled over the glass and told him he could coach if he didn't like what he was doing. Dad left the bench to let this kids father run the show.

End of the second period the kid starts in on his dad for being a total jerk and told him to grow up. The father put his head down scurried quickly past my father. Dad just looked at me and grinned

[jolinar of malkshor]

^
^
^
Speaking of which. I was about 12-13 years old when I went with my older brother to watch him play hockey in a Arrdrosin Alberta. My brother was 16 or 17 at the time. It was in the second period when my brother and the captin of the other team both recieved penalties for fighting. I was sitting behind the opposing teams penalty box and I leaned over and told the guy that he sucked. The crazy a-hole climbed over the glass and started beating me until the parents pulled him off. I got booted from the rink and the player was expelled. As I am being escorted out by one of the parents the player that climbed the boards leaves the dressing room and starts chasing me in his skates. I am 13 this guy is 17. Someone in the crowed yells FIGHT and all these punks from Arrdrosin coming running out.

Anyhow I got on the bus in time and had to wait there for the rest of the game. All I could do was pray that my brothers team won the game so they wouldn't be mad at me. They did win the game and the home crowed was so crazy they had to call in the RCMP to escort my brothers team to the bus.

[Tron_fdc]

I'm in vegas right now, and I have a story about a 200lb girl, midgets, threesomes and losing your shirt (literally) in Pure.

It sounds exciting, but I really can't remember much about the particulars (still piecing it together). If this thread is still going in a few days when I get back maybe I'll share it.

[FireFly]

I think we should make a point of having this thread going just to hear the story.