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Michael Kelly
My Step-Grandfather, I never knew this until I had grown up, helped raise me, he was a real gentleman. He was a great example to me growing up. He was a Diesel Mechanic at Arizona Sand & Rock, in Tempe, Arizona, and maintained atll the Trucks, the conveyors, all Diesel Equipment. The Doctor told him after his Fourth Sunstroke, that another one was likely to Kill him, so he and my grandmother sold the three houses they owned and moved to Gunnison, Colorado. He had to because of heat, and so Gunnison, which was at 6000 feet in altitude, below freezing until mid-June, and started snowing again in mid-August. I spent some summers there, I remember waking up with it so cold that I had two Quilts on my Cot, and my Grandad stoking Coal in the :Pot Bellied Stove to warm up the house. My grandmother made Home Made Biscuits, and they got Eggs from the local Farmers in the area in exchange for some of the Goods they sold in Hoyle's Variety on Main street in Gunnison. Back then the Farmers and Ranchers bought clothing, cloth, tools, and other things they needed at Hoyle's and exchanged Eggs, and Gold Coins, Silver Dollars, Mercury head Dimes, Buffalo head Nickels, and copper Pennys dating clear back to when they were first made, to pay for the goods. My grandmother had grown up running stores since she had four brothers and was the oldest of all the siblings in her Family. My grandfather, Burge Hoyle, loved listening to Paul Harvey. Everyday seems like, and he would listen to Paul Harvey, and read the Bible. My grandfather believed in America. He believed if you could not work, you better cut down on your food intake. During the depression, he would not take a Government subsidized Job, he considered it Socialism and would not tolerate it.
When they moved to Gunnison, granddad gave up Diesel Mechanic work, and started buying and selling homes, today they call it "Fix and Flip:" and when I graduated High School, the next morning at 5 AM he asked me if I knew how to drive, I said not real good, he threw me the keys and said Good, your driving us to Delta, Colo. and I and your grandmother are going to sleep until I get more sleep then you can wake me up and I'll take over. He taught me to Roof a House, Paint, do Carpentry, Pour Cement, do Electrical to Code, estimate buying Lumber and Shingles, he taught me to do it all, and I got real hands on experience, so that by the time I went back to Arizona in the Fall my hands were Caloused and I had Money in my Pocket because he paid me by the hour. Quiet Courage and Calm Strength, a God-Fearing Man. I needed that example back then. I am assured I will see that God Fearing Man again. Wnen I get Where I'm Going by Brad Paisley pretty much covers it.
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