Jewells of Thought

How do I make this decision? I have many characters in my family I could describe and that should be highlighted. To pick only one out of so many is a task that may be difficult.

Since we are coming up on Veterans Day I think I will decide on Grandpa Freddy. Fred Jewell Alsman was in fact a character. A loving, hardworking, God-fearing, Navy man. He grew up in the shadows of an older sister and brother. His sister Maxine was 20 years older and his brother was 10 years his senior. So Maxine’s son Sheryl was born around the time Grandpa was, but he was in fact his nephew but they were like brothers.

My Grandpa encouraged my transformation into a historian to become an interviewer of Veterans. This completely altered the course of my adulthood which would have been completely music related and now I have a 3-D worktable to work with as a historian because of my degree and my hobbies.

Even with a mother like Mattie Alsman who was a force to be reckoned with so I have heard; she died before I was born. She sang in a Church Singing Group I don’t know if it was a quartet or just a group. Grandpa got saved only after marrying Grandma, his Angel as he attested to in his last testimony the day he died.

When Sheryl died, Grandpa’s nephew, I will never forget what his son and daughter told us. It still gives me goosebumps. On his deathbed, years after Grandpa had died Sheryl in his last minutes or moments mentioned that he was seeing people as he closed his eyes. Like Grandma Mattie and Uncle Freddy and he was so excited to see them. I still can’t think of this without tearing up and sobbing.

Grandpa Freddy was such a charismatic, caring, reader of books and the Bible. His words were followed by actions and it showed throughout his life and especially at his death. Finally after 18 years I can walk into Fellowship and not cry at all the little things I missed hearing when he gave that testimony and then literally within a short time he woke up next to Christ his Savior. I have that knowledge and a piece of him always with me because I know that he loved his family, but that I was blessed to be his granddaughter.