Today

Today is August 8, 2008. That's 08/08/08 for those of you who are superstitious or count those kinds of things to be something. I don't, except for their unusual nature, but that's for a different day and blog. Today is special, however, for a different reason. Today is the birthday of my grandfather, Sol Plank.
Now, Sol has been dead for over 40 years (almost 42, to be exact). But I don't think there's a year that goes by that I don't stop for just a moment to enjoy some memories of him.
I've talked about him before. You may have heard how he came to Nebraska on the train with his family, or how he lost everything he had in the depression, or how he marveled so at television. You may, if you remember Sol, know that his full name was Solomon B Plank, and that the B was just an initial...no middle name that began with B was part of his moniker.
You may know other things...how he drove until well into his 90's; how he lost his wife in the early 20's; and how he reached out to people of different faiths in a time and as a member of a church that frowned greatly on such things.
But I guess that what I want to leave you with today is the certain knowledge that Sol, if he would be alive today (age 138, by the way), would probably be enamored with the computer, HDTV, and the Martian Rover while at the same time gently reminding his descendants that some things are timeless...faith, love, friendship, loyalty, gentleness, and generosity.
He would continue to spin stories of homesteading on the Nebraska plains, or farming over in the Danville (Kansas) area, or of some other aspect of a remarkable life that saw everything from the invention of the telephone to the internal combustion engine, to manned space flight. And we would sit, mesmerized by his ability to recall details and his knack for weaving together stories of the old times that entertained as well as informed.