Grandpa's Wallet

Yesterday afternoon, my dad called to tell me he had run into an old boyfriend of mine at church. He very graciously extended condolences to my dad on the death a few years back of his daughter Katie that he had dated in college. Hmm. I had no idea I died! Obviously what happened is that he heard through the grapevine that the Wickham's daughter Katie passed away. This is entirely true. Katie (Wickham) Steffes did die about 3 years ago. However, that is my stepsister, not me. My first thought was that I hope he didn't grieve too long over my death. But then I thought of my grandfather.

When Grandpa was in the military and was assigned to Fort Carson. He and Grandma liked the area so much they decided to make their home there when he was discharged from service. After retiring from the military, he and Grandma moved to Security, CO, a suburb of Colorado Springs. He then worked for the school district as a janitor and as a mechanic there in Security. He actually retired three different times! As you can imagine, he liked to keep busy. By the time my memories of him are clear, he was really retired. He would still drive the delivery truck for the Bishop's Storehouse, but he didn't have a formal job. It was difficult for him to not have to be somewhere and do something all the time. So he would go to the store at least once a day to pick up odds and ends or to just visit.

My Grandpa, Bill Allen, was a stranger to no one. As he made trips to the store, he would talk to anyone he happened to see. He would comment on cute babies. He would tell jokes. But he would always end up pulling out his wallet to show off his pictures. He would start this off by asking them if they wanted to see his pride and joy. Of course they would say yes. Then he would open his wallet to pictures, not of his children or grandchildren, but of Joy dish soap and Pride laundry detergent. He also showed off some cards with jokes on them (several of which Mom forbade him from showing us kids). There was another item in his wallet he liked to show off. It was a small piece of newspaper with the obituary for Mr. William C. Allen.