by Pa Rock
Proud Grandpa
I received the nicest letter last week, one that pumped me up and made me feel proud to be a grandfather. My second-oldest grandchild, Sebastian Files, a high school freshman, wrote the letter to thank me for his Christmas gift. Actually he typed the letter because the gift that I had sent to him was a small manual typewriter.
This year I went to a lot of effort to come up with Christmas gifts that I thought my grandchildren would appreciate. With Sebastian I had two guiding stars: I knew that he liked things that are "retro," especially from the 1950's, and I also was aware of his love of writing. A typewriter sounded perfect. As Sebastian put it in his letter:
"I want to say thank you for this amazing typewriter! I am writing this letter on it. I have always wanted a typewriter."
Sebastian has written a series of three fiction books, cumulatively titled "The Royce Agency," and all of which have been reviewed in this space. He told me in his letter that he is now at work on a fourth book, but of a different subject matter. Sebastian is also on the staff of his school's student newspaper. His grandfather is very proud of his writing achievements.
Add to all of that the fact that he is currently learning to drive, and it becomes readily apparent that my grandson is a very busy young man.
Happy typing and safe driving, Sebastian!
"Remember the punch and peck words had in those days,the strain of Q in the little finger, the type headleaning out on its stalk from its semicircular roost"(from "Typewriter" by British poet Matthew Francis)
3 comments:
You always give the best gifts! We love you, Pa Rock.
Erin
He is taking his typewriter to school tomorrow. With the recent threat at his school over break, (16 yr old arrested & 15 yr old got criminal charges, FBI involved), we haven't allowed him to take it, as it looks pretty conspicious for a student to be carrying in a backpack & a piece of luggage (with a typewriter in it). They are not searching students, so we have just been waiting for that situation to cool over a bit. He's going to use it in the library during lunch. He also got chosen as 2nd place for his business idea in marketing class. They did presentations, & only 3 in their class of 40 were chosen to continue their marketing plan. Sounds simliar to "Shark Tank". He was very surprised to be chosen! He even asked to present first. !?! Our kids are not lacking in confidence, that's for sure. I should tell you Willow stories of her speaking up in class when she knows the teacher is teaching them something ridiculous & outdated, & also her standing up for herself & her friends. I don't know where that kid came from. Sebastian has done a LOT of driving in the rain, thru dark forests with intimidatingly steep drop-offs, & trips to run random errands or get fast food. Its been a slow but steady progression. He's a slow, safe driver.. likely gets that from Scott. ;) He has a permit, so we are always with him. And Judah passed a food handler's test last week! ?! Soon they are learning to swallow pills in his health class, a skill that is typically not easy for parents to teach to their kids! I wish we could drop Willow off for those classes! ;) Thanks for the typewriter & other awesome gifts!! We are sending xmas gifts out slowly. Yours could be a surprise Valentine's day gift combo, who knows!
Erin doesnt leave very lengthy comments, huh. 😃 🤣 😂
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