Page 113 - Family History
P. 113
Family Stories
Wood Splinters & Pencils
Mike Schmidt Jr. was a very sentimental person. He saved a lot of things. One
could find four-leaf clovers, very old (and likely useless) documents, tiny
trinkets and scads of old photographs lying around his house. But probably two
of the most unusual things were – a pencil and a wood splinter approximately
three inches long!
He told me the story behind the pencil
himself. During WWII he was an MP
(military policeman) assigned to guard
some German prisoners of war. Once
when searching the prisoners, he came
across and confiscated the wooden
pencil. “You never know” he said – “he
could have used it as a weapon against
me.” He proudly showed the pencil to
guests and kept it all those years.
Later, Laura told me the story of the
wood splinter. Her grandfather worked
at a door manufacturing factory in
Portland, OR. One day at work he
backed up a few steps and ended up with
a three-inch-long wood splinter in his rear end! He had to go the doctor and have
it removed. He had the doctor save it for him and he proudly showed it to guests
and he kept it all those years. Stephen
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