Cool Stories?

[4X4]

I just told a little story in the smoking thread about how my maternal grandfather ended up dying less than 50 km from where he was born. It inspired me to keep slacking off for awhile and tell another story about my paternal grandfather that some of you might enjoy reading.

Some of you know that I had the pleasure of living in Rome for a year, (basically all of 2006). While I was there, one of the most amazing things happened to me (more specifically, my father). I don't think it'll ever be topped within my family.

For the record, I really enjoy peoples' stories, so I hope some of you get out your writing irons and tell me some stories in return. I think my messageboard addiction is based on the fact that I just love hearing travel stories and stories in general (I'm an old man's best friend - an audience).


So here's my cool story:
My father was born in Italy in 1947 in a tiny mountain village called Vagli Sotto. the population of this town was about 200 people at the time they decided to move to Belgium and then ultimately to Canada. My father was 9 years old when they left Italy.
My grandfather packed up his wife and three sons (two of which are twins) and embarked on a mission to find greener pastures. Italy was in a really crappy state after WWII and good paying work was extremely difficult to find, especially if, like my grandfather, you had a grade 3 education.

My grandfather died in 1994 and my grandmother in 1996. My grandfather's funeral was, by far, the most attended funeral I've ever been to. He was very well liked. I mention that because it illustrates to me that when you really love someone, you never forget them. And neither did the little old ladies in Vagli Sotto.

In may of '06, my dad and sister came to visit me in Rome. While they were there, we rented a car and drove to Vagli Sotto. Watching my dad reminisce about the town that was his entire world as a youngster was pretty cool. He pointed out where he lived and where my grandfather was born, likewise my grandmother. The church that they got married in and attended. Everything. And one less than happy landmark, his little sister's grave.

As we were walking out of the cemetery, my dad off in la-la land remembering so much stuff, we walked past a house that had two of the oldest ladies I've ever seen, sitting on the front porch in their rocking chairs. I remember thinking "what an awesomely authentic image".
well, these little old ladies recognized my father. They were trying to get our attention by (feebly) hollaring "Baci". Baci was a nickname bestowed upon my grandparents as it is a combination of their two last names.

Well, my father had no idea who these people were, but they sure knew him. And they wanted to know everything about the family and most of all, hear about their old friends, my grandparents.

I'm telling you that I've never felt so emotional watching the three of them speak. My italian was very poor at the time, so I understood almost none of it.
When my dad told them that my grandparents were dead, they both started crying. One of them asked my dad if she could kiss my sister so that she could take it to my grandmother's grave here in canada.

It was totally unbelievable. The three of them talked for over an hour, but the time slipped by so quick it felt like 5 minutes.
Afterward, my dad just simply could not stop talking about all the stuff they told him about when he was a kid.
I suppose he could have heard the same stuff from his parents before they died, but you all know how you just never seem to appreciate that kind of thing until it's too late. Well, my dad got one of the most amazing gifts that day.

It may sound morbid, but I already know that that story will be part of the eulogy that I will, one sad day, have to deliver at my dad's funeral. It was probably the happiest I have ever seen him in my life.

[4X4]

I was talking to my other sisters about this story a little while ago, and we decided that we have to go to Italy in the very near future. My plan is to knock on those old ladies' door and give them a picture of my grandparents. I really can't wait to do that. It's all I can think of that would come close to repaying what I see as an emotional debt of gratitude I have toward them. That seriously made my dad's day, month, year.

[Ford Prefect]

Great story 4X4. You're lucky to have such a rich family heritage. Family is everything.

[Dion]

Write a book about your stories adventures 4X4. Who knows, you might make some serious coin and able to retire early.

Awesome story btw 4X4.

[Locke]

You're Italian? Wow. I really dropped the ball on that one. Pfft, at least I beat Aeneas, he said you were Norwegian.

I'll submit a story later, when the odds of being fired arent quite as high.

[4X4]

When I tell this story vocally, I go on and on about the stuff the ladies told him. Stuff like how they used to breast feed him and my uncle b/c my grandmother didn't have enough milk for both of them (being twins). Other stuff like how they said that they should make a statue of my grandfather in that town (that is their way of saying that they really like someone, sort of a local slang).
They told him about how my aunt died as an infant and that my grandfather rode his bicycle to Pisa (closest big town) to get medicine, but that Luana died while he was gone.
Friends, it was, by far, the most amazingly satisfying experience of my life. It was the gigantic cherry on top of my year in Italy. It actually makes this tough redneck well up a bit, just relaying it.


So you people are supposed to tell me some cool stories now. Get on it.

[TimSJ]

I have a sort of cool story about my grandfather. He died about 10 or 12 years ago now but in December of 06 this lady came into where i worked and asked for me. She said she was a friend of my grandfathers and had something for me.

It was about 3 hours of recordings of an interview her daughter did with him 20 years prior. She had to interview a person about their life and she chose him.

It was really remarkable to listen to him tell his whole life story to this girl (and boy could he talk). about how he joined the army underage came to Saint John on the train from Winnipeg. Where he met my grandmother at a dance just before he was deployed overseas. He lost his leg in the war and spoke about that and really just about everything.. It really was unreal to listen to.

The tapes we on the only mini tapes and i had them redone and put onto CD and gave them to my mother for xmas. Watching open them up with a beautiful letter from the lady about my grandfather and listening to them with her was a one of the best afternoons i can remember.

anyway thats my story

[Locke]

I once rode a sofa down a hill.

Do these have to be family related?

[4X4]

Dude, that's awesome. And getting to hear it from the man himself and assumably in a point by point format. I would kill to be able to sit down with my grandfather and hear about that kind of stuff.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Locke

I once rode a sofa down a hill.

Hahaha. One year, for Superbowl, a friend picked me up and we headed to another friend's place to watch the game. We showed up right before the game started but there was nobody there. Now, the buddy that picked me up didn't know the guy whose house we were going to, so he couldn't have recognized him.
After twiddling our thumbs for a few minutes, we figured that they probably made a beer run, so I told my friend to drive to the liquor store. They weren't there, so we headed back to the house to wait it out.

On the way back, as we're passing through a T-intersection, my buddy blurts out "There's some car dragging a couch down that street!!".
My reaction: That's them. Go follow them.

Sure as shiz, there's my buddies. One driving and the other one laying on a couch getting dragged along behind the car.

We dragged the couch back to his place, carried it in and watched the game.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Hahaha. One year, for Superbowl, a friend picked me up and we headed to another friend's place to watch the game. We showed up right before the game started but there was nobody there. Now, the buddy that picked me up didn't know the guy whose house we were going to, so he couldn't have recognized him.
After twiddling our thumbs for a few minutes, we figured that they probably made a beer run, so I told my friend to drive to the liquor store. They weren't there, so we headed back to the house to wait it out.

On the way back, as we're passing through a T-intersection, my buddy blurts out "There's some car dragging a couch down that street!!".
My reaction: That's them. Go follow them.

Sure as shiz, there's my buddies. One driving and the other one laying on a couch getting dragged along behind the car.

We dragged the couch back to his place, carried it in and watched the game.

did you follow them and get pissed off when they didn't pull over to get out of your way

[4X4]

Originally Posted by return to the red

did you follow them and get pissed off when they didn't pull over to get out of your way

I wasn't driving, but I was encouraging the driver to ram the couch a couple times...

[Flames_Gimp]

I could tell a story about a guy who was so waisted on acid he thought the easy chair in the middle of the living room was a toilet, and he was pissed off wondering what everyone in the room was doing in the bathroom..

anyways, he wouldn't listen to his friends and pulled down his pants and took a dirty dump in the chair... but the funniest thing is, he had a seizure at the same time and ended up rolling in his excrement at the same time.

[flip]

I was at a comedy club one night and the American comedian noticed that the canadian crowd had a fellow that was wearing his canadian army uniform. The comedian made some joke to him along the lines of "Thanks for all your help in WWI and WWII. Thanks for the sandwiches".

So the canadian guy just took the comedian to town and set him straight about Canadian contribution to "the good side" of those wars.
Then the comedian was booed off the stage.

True story!

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

I could tell a story about a guy who was so waisted on acid he thought the easy chair in the middle of the living room was a toilet, and he was pissed off wondering what everyone in the room was doing in the bathroom..

anyways, he wouldn't listen to his friends and pulled down his pants and took a dirty dump in the chair... but the funniest thing is, he had a seizure at the same time and ended up rolling in his excrement at the same time.

Sounds like my buddy dave, except he was just drunk, not tripping balls, and he didn't have a seizure. And it was my kitchen.

So, I guess the only thing our stories have in common is poop.

[4X4]

Well done, flip...

As for 'taking care of business' in places that aren't the washroom, I once walked into the kitchen at my buddy's place and found another buddy crouching against the wall, taking a dump. The epitome of 'idiot drunk'.

[Dion]

Back in my late teens a bunch is used to go camping on the weekends during the summer months. We'd head out to Kanaskis country.

This one friday i get a call from my bud Randy. He tells me he found this cool gorilla costume and rented it for the weekend. Of course my response was wdf do we need a gorilla costume for?

You have to understand that Randy was a great prankster who liked to play jokes on people. He also stood about 6"8' tall. Anyway he explains that he came up with this crazy idea that he was going to imitate a sasquach and maybe scare a few folks.

Saturday night comes along and were hunkered down in the ditch beside a gravel road. We see headlights coming and Randy begins slowly walking across the road and on intp the woods. With the headlights shinning on him most drivers stopped for a few sconds then sped off.

Well, the fun started when this rancher approached us in his pickup. He stopped and on went the dome light in his truck. I saw him reaching for what looked like a shotgun from his gun rack. We all yelled at Randy to run as we thought he was going to shoot him. With it being dark and all, Randy couldn't see where he was going and ran smack into a tree and knocked himself out. We explained to the rancher that we were just playing a joke on the passing drivers and he started to laugh with us.

A year later Randy dies of a brain anuerism.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

I could tell a story about a guy who was so waisted on acid he thought the easy chair in the middle of the living room was a toilet, and he was pissed off wondering what everyone in the room was doing in the bathroom..

anyways, he wouldn't listen to his friends and pulled down his pants and took a dirty dump in the chair... but the funniest thing is, he had a seizure at the same time and ended up rolling in his excrement at the same time.

haha. hahahah. Thats a good chuckle worthy story.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

So, I guess the only thing our stories have in common is poop.

hahaha poop

[chid]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Sounds like my buddy dave, except he was just drunk, not tripping balls, and he didn't have a seizure. And it was my kitchen.

So, I guess the only thing our stories have in common is poop.

Speaking of poop, a few of my friends went to the African Lion Safari last summer, got high, flipped off a few monkeys. Anyways, one of my guy friends was in the back seat and sharted himself. Sick thing was that no one needed to be told, we all heart it and.. smelled it.
We had to sit through the entire 'safari' with him, although I'd imagine it was probably the most uncomfortable feeling for him..
We had to go buy him a pair of pants as soon as we finished.