Giving - Take 2

You don't choose family. Some take. Others give. Because my family is so giving, their kindness bore fruit a century later. Because Once I proposed to my girlfriend Angela, we discovered an uncanny coincidence.

The week after I proposed, my phone rang. It was Angela with what sounded like a trivia question: was your grandfather's name Fred?

My grandfather's name *was* Fred. And he had a memorable way of giving.

Specifically, my grandparents wanted to add value to international students. Back in the 50's there were fewer resources for them. International Students were alone in a foreign culture, strange language, thousands of miles from home. So they invited some students over for dinner - to celebrate her culture, learn how to make curry, and just be together. One of these students was named Sheila.

Turns out my wife's question made a lot of sense. Because my mother in law was bragging about her daughters' soon-to-be-husband to her former landlady, Sheila. This was the SAME SHEILA who hung out with my grandparents half a century earlier.

She has a great memory too. Sheila recognized my last name immediately. She remembered her college friends - the "Eckels" in NE Philadelphia who just had their 3rd son Timmy - my father.

My grandparents gave. 20 years later their guest, Sheila, would rent a room to a student who would be my mother-in-law 30 years later.

We found a connection. My uncles & aunts were ecstatic. And Sheila drove up to the wedding.