“Wait a minute Jerri. Why don't
you sit down with me and have some breakfast. I have a little story I would like
to tell you before your birthday tomorrow.”
I was talking to my nineteen
year old Granddaughter who had just come down the stairs from her bedroom and
started arguing with her Mother in the kitchen the minute she saw her.
My Grandchild is a beautiful young
woman, but with the nose piercing, body art, and Gothic Punk look so common
with young people today. They feel their life is bleak and are disenchanted
about their future because of the Right Wing Politics of the Old and Wealthy!
They fall for the notions fed to them by Conservatives who adhere to
Television's doom and gloom every where you look, Movie Magic's we'll all be
dead from Robots or an Alien Invasion, and my favorite, from all the different
Game Consoles out there, most of us will be Zombies soon!
To our youth, each day seems
grim and desperate. All they hear from the Multimedia are stories on how the
Corporate Monsters out there are destroying the environment for huge profits,
Government War Machines playing Chess with each other over the dead bodies of
the innocent, lives being lost by Terrorists in the name of God, and the Rich
getting richer as one third of the World's Population starves to death. To
them, there are no trends coming along to better our situation or no one person
capable of changing the future.
“What do you want Gramps? You
gonna lecture me about, when I was your age bullshit?”
“Never,” I said. “What do you
take me for, some kind of fool? I just want to tell you about this little
present I have here for you.”
This of course got her
attention. Nothing like a gift to sweeten the sour!
“OK Da Da,” her affectionate
name for me since she was able to speak. “Lay it on me. I gotta meet my
boyfriend as soon as he wakes up. So when he calls, I'm outta here!” Snapping
the fingers of her right hand and then waving the same hand over her shoulder
in the hitch-hiker’s pose.
She took the seat across from
me, at the kitchen table, waving off her Mother's attempt of putting a plate of
bacon and eggs in front of her. I could see the impatience building as I
finished chewing some of my food and then taking a sip of coffee.
“Jerri,” I started with. “I did
say it was a little story, but it is actually about some of our ancestors, how
your gift came about, and how it has been in our family for over one-hundred-fifty years. So if I do say something ignorant like, in my day, don't hesitate
to laugh.”
I started out this way because I
didn't want her to be defensive in anyway. With the daily interrogation she
gets from her Parents and the way they ask their questions, it always comes out
of their lips sounding more like annoying statements then a query. You know,
stuff like; “Why do you have to dress that way!? Why can't you act like a
lady!? Whatever happened to that nice boy you used to go out with!? And so on!
There is nothing like destroying
someone's self worth with the same badgering Q and A, while never waiting for
the A, every time you see that person. Examinations that denote their attempt
to being an individual as foolhardy, or ignorant.
At Jerri's age, words can still
be from a Witches Caldron that can either have black or white magic behind
them! Positive dialogue will build esteem in one so emotionally young while
contemptuous language will influence the mind into cynicism and pessimism about
one's own life!
In my time, I would say I was
around the age of twenty-five when the words lost their charm over me. In some
people it may come sooner, while others it will come later, and still others it
may never come.
My Wife, rest her soul, never realized
how deep the words sliced threw her heart when someone close to her would use
malice, trying to break her spirit as theirs had been broken. But misery loves
company you know.
“Da Da, I wouldn't laugh at you,
you're the only one who understands me!”
“Oh, ha ha! You’d be surprised
how little I understand young people today.” I said in response. “But that is
the great thing about life. The joy there is from learning something new
everyday!”
“Well, what did you get me?”
Jerri asked.
“First, let me ask your Mother
if it's OK to give you your present a day early?”
As I was asking this, I turned
my head to look over my shoulder at my daughter Danielle, who was still
wrestling up some eggs and bacon for the other two members of the household.
She in turn, turns around to put one hand on her housecoat covered hip, while
with the other points the spatula at me as if brandishing a small weapon, then
tipping her head to one side to smile. The kind of smile that tells you, “Now
that you have backed me into a corner, am I supposed to say no?”
“Since your Mother is so quit I
guess I'll have to take that as an OK. We wouldn't want to put her on the spot
now would we!”
“Thank you!” Danielle
sarcastically said, turning back to her frying pan.
I, myself turned back to face
Jerri and told her, “There is a bit of mystery surrounding the gift I
have brought you.”
“Humph!” My daughter exclaimed, Jerri's Mother, with her back to us now.
“Be quiet non-believer!” I
proclaimed, adding a lot of excitement to my statement. “You had your chance, this family heirloom shall
go to my Granddaughter. Still an innocent soul!”
“Same line you used on me twenty-two years ago Dad. Can't think of any new Hocus Pocus?” My daughter asked with
a big grin on her face.
I combated her cynicism with,
“Your Mother would be rolling in her grave right now if she could hear the
sarcasm coming from those lips. Again, I ask you to be quiet please. Why don't
you just feed your husband and son some of those over cooked eggs of yours, so
I can tell my gracious and precious Granddaughter here, the truth behind the
Rose Colored Glasses!”
“Oh, that was a low blow Dad,
talking about my cooking that way.” Danielle replied. “Go ahead. Weave your
tale about our mysterious ancestors and when you get hungry later, see what
kind of mysterious food you'll be eating!”
“Mom, let Grandpa tell me what
he wants to so I can get the Hell out of here!” Jerri said, interrupting us.
“Now Jerri," my daughter
started scolding her. I knew it was with every intent on lecturing her about the proper use of manners and language for a lady of Jerri's age. But I thought it was a perfect opportunity to
interrupt them. Before another shouting match began!
“Jerri, did you know our
forefathers can be traced back to settling in this country from the time of the
Revolutionary War?”
“Grandpa, I'm outta here! I
don't have time for one of your History lesson!”
“Oh, I'm sorry. Its just that
the History behind the glass tells you how long it has been in our family, how
valuable it is to all of us, and what it will be worth to you and your family in the long run!” I
explained to her.
I could see dollar signs
rolling around in her eyes. These few key words brought out the idea of
making some money into her mind. Not imagining them to be an exaggeration in nature.
“How much money do you think I
could get for them Da Da?” She asked.
“Well, let me tell you the story
behind them and you can judge for yourself!” I explained to her, trying to peak
her interest even more.
“As you know, our ancestors came
over from Germany with the Hessian Army in 1776 and fought on the side of Great
Britain during the Revolutionary War. There were three brothers, their last name was the same
as mine, Schmidt. You could say they came over as mercenaries, but with every
intention of staying behind in America after the war was over no matter which
side had won.”
“In fact, documents from the
time suggests that German soldiers were well respected and well cared for, by
both the American Patriots who had won the war and the vanquished British. At
the conclusion of the hostilities, the newly formed Congress of the
Confederation, as our first governing body was known, offered incentives for
the German soldiers to stay in the Colonies. While Great Britain repaid their
debt by offering land for German soldiers willing to settle in Nova Scotia.
Which England still claimed as one of their remaining Colonies.”
I had Jerri's attention now. I
could tell when she didn't notice her Mother putting a glass of orange juice in
front of her, and without thinking about it, taking a sip.
Continuing, I explained the fate
of the three brothers to her.
“Unfortunately the oldest
brother, Heinrich, did not survive the battle of Chadd's Ford. A waist of the
Hessian forces, as they were used as a diversion by the British troops, so the
main body of soldiers could cross a river at another point and begin the Battle
of Brandywine Creek.”
“Another brother Torsten, which
history does not tell us if he was the second oldest or youngest of the three,
took the offer from the British of land as payment for his service after the
War had ended and headed north to Nova Scotia. Annuals of time did not record
the fate of this brother.”
“Finally Wilhelm Schmidt shows
up after the Hessian army had disbanded, first in records from Fort Harmar in the Ohio Valley, as a settler who
was quickly expelled once The Ohio Company of Associates bought up the land and
gave his settlement to owners of Warrants. Those were documents giving American
Revolutionary War Veterans the rights to land since the new Government did not
have a way to pay them monetarily. Since Wilhelm fought on the side of the
British, he did not have one of these Warrants.”
“The next time we hear about
Wilhelm is in the memoirs of his son Henriech, who we know was named after
Wilhelm's older brother. Henriech wrote that; Even though no deaths accrued in
our battle over the bridge, I was proud to fight along side Solomon Juneau. He
fought bravely enough, for in my eyes, to be the first Mayor of Milwaukee. A
new city charter will unite together the three communities of Juneautown,
Kilbourntown, and Walker's Point under one Political roof. No longer fighting
over the bridge that connects our communities. Sadly as it is, I now realize
why my father, Wilhelm Schmidt, would not talk about his battles as a Hessian
fighting on the wrong side of the War against Great Britain. I saw first hand
what a gunshot wound can do to a man's right arm. Clean threw the bone was the
shot, where only skin and muscle held the bottom half to the top. As the man
ran in circles in agonizing pain, the two separated. We affectionately now call
him Lefty McFarland. It must have haunted my father until the day he died to
have seen his brother killed in battle and lost the other to the wilderness!”
By this time Jerome, Danielle's
husband, had come down from upstairs and sat at the breakfast table with us.
Scooping from a platter of eggs, bacon, toast, and link sausages to a plate of
his own.
Sausages, something my daughter
had forgotten to tell me she was cooking. If I remember later on, my next story
will have to be about the proper protocols of feeding the elderly.
Interrupting my daydream, Jerri
tells me, “Gramps, stop staring at all that food and continue with the story
about the glasses! Your getting too fat anyways!”
This brought out laughter from
everyone, including my Grandson Julius, who had just entered the room.
“Oh, how I can see so much of
your Mother in you Jerri!” I countered. This made her crinkle her nose a bit as
if acting disgusted.
“Now the reason to tell you all
of this was to explain why Henriech Schmidt was living in the Milwaukee area.
If you want me to go into greater detail about who married who and how many
children each ancestor had I'll be glad to include it in the family tale?”
“Sorry Dad,” Jerome said,
thinking he was taking control of the situation. “Julius here has a soccer game
today at two o'clock. Can we skip most of that part of the story?”
“OK,” I said reluctantly. “I'll
get to the history of the glass.”
“By the 1840's and the next
couple of decades, Germans migrated in such masses that the town became known
as the Deutsches Athen. A reference to the fact that most of the Newspapers
were written in German during this time and most of the people spoke the German
language instead of English. In fact, after the failed 1848 Revolution in
Germany, many scholarly and artistic citizens left their homeland to flee
persecution and settle in the Milwaukee area. A Renaissance of German Culture
bloomed during this time.”
“With all of these people migrating
to the area, Henriech decided the town needed a Protestant Church for his
neighbors to worship in. His memoirs do not specify exactly who he wrote to in
Germany, only stating that it was a second cousin of his which he had never
met, but who worked in one of the Stained Glass Houses at the time which
supplied most of the Churches of Europe with its colored glass. After all the
fees were paid and the glass was already on its way to the new continent,
Henriech found out that his Cousin belonged to a secret society called The High
Enlighten Oculist Order of Wolfenbuttel!”
“It is said, but no document
remains, that when his Cousin wrote back, he stated in his letter; Though the
mystics and rites of the Gods from Asgard can no longer be preached or
practiced in public, I have sent, with my Master's blessing, the glass fired
for the windows of a High Priestess in Leichengrad, now in retreat. A glass so
powerful it was formed by alchemy from the quixotic sands found along the Seine
River in France. Sands that are said to be mixed with the powdered Human Bones
from a secret catacomb underneath Paris itself! My Master then imported the
ivory colored limestone which was removed from an ancient Pyramid near the
African River Nile. The Lime was then coalesced with a fine diamond dust mined
in China during the time of the Ming Dynasty. Finally harvesting from Spain was
the Barillo plant, minced together with the Glasswort plant of England, for the
sodium. All fired together in the oldest of logs from the darkest center of the
Black Forest, which then burned so hot that the formed glass would not crack when
cooled in the virgin waters of melted snows from Norway.”
I slowly looked everyone in the
eye to make sure I had their attention before slowly saying, “If I heard those
words today,” pausing for a breath, then quickly saying. “I would think that
guy worked at a Madison Avenue Add Agency!”
“Is that true?” Little Julius
asked.
“Grandpa!” Jerri said with
disgust.
While both Jerome and my
daughter laughed.
“No!” I said. “I heard those
words are true. I just thought the guy was trying to advertise his goods hoping
to get repeat business! Instead, I think he scared Henriech away!”
“What does this have to do with
the value of the glasses Da Da?” Jerri asked while smiling. I could tell she
was enjoying herself because her phone rang, but she turned it off instead of
answering it!
“OK,OK. As the story goes, when
Henriech received the glass, the wooden crate itself had the Viking Rune
Letters branded into it! He took this as another sign that the glass inside was
not fit for the walls of his Protestant Church. Superstition kept him from
trying to destroy the glass, probably because of the description that the glass
was powerful and formed by alchemy, so he stored the glass in the basement of
the Church and never discussed it again in any of his correspondences or his personal
journals!”
“We don't hear about the glass
again until after the year of 1933. During the height of the Great Depression
from one of Henriech's Grandsons, Bernard Schmidt. He was the brother of Aksel,
the Minister of the Church at this time. He worked for his brother as the
caretaker even though he was educated as a optometrist. He also kept an
extensive diary about his wife and himself during this period.”
“Bernard wrote how hard it was
taking care of his two children and a wife who became increasingly useless from
despair after he had lost his business and all their savings during the first
couple of years of the depression.”
“The exciting part of his
biography started in May of 1934. His wife had broken the last pair of bifocals
that she owned, since there wasn't any money to be had, probably because he was
working at the Church for their room and board only, he was aloud to rummage
through the storage areas of the Church. Maybe somebody, at one time, had
donated a pair of glasses, or maybe just left a pair behind and his wife would
be able to use them. That is what he had hoped, anyways.”
“Of course he searched through
the basement and found the crate marked; Glas für die Kirche!”
“And what does that translate to
my wonderful daughter?”
“Da, lass mich nachdenken?” (Da,
let me think?) Danielle said while scratching her head as if confused.
Smiling, as if an idea just
popped into her head, she looked at her children and said, “Oh I know! Glass
for the Church!”
“I could have told you that,
Mommy.” little Julius said. “You can tell by the way Grandpa tells the story.”
“So let me tell you more of the
story before your Mother interrupts us again!” I teased.
“Dad, I'm going to get you back
for that later you know.” she said.
“Well, let the negativity flow
from your mind and join your children in the innocent world of the positive!”
“Dad, stop talking in riddles
and finish your story so Julius and I can get going.” Jerome calmly told me.
“Oh, now I'm getting ganged up
on, am I?” Taking a sip of coffee.
I acted as if I had forgotten
where I was in the story, then continued with, “Well, my Great Grandfather
examined the glass, after removing it from the case, he noticed that it
enhanced whatever object he placed behind the Rose Color. He was given
permission to use it for his wife and whom ever he felt could use that strength
of magnification from a pair of glasses. He wrote in his diary, and yes a lot
of our ancestors did keep personnel journals since this was the only way to
keep the family history alive at the time, Bernard wrote; At first my wife was
repulsed by the color of the glass, like most things now in her life. Though
once upon her face, she swore the clarity was better than anything she wore
before. I too noticed a change in her. My meaning is not in the way she could
see clearer, but her overall demeanor. Since she has put on those glasses, her
spirits has risen, no longer talking about how God has abandoned us, but how
there is hope for our future. My wife even said that after wearing those Rose
Colored Glasses for a time, she could see in other men and women, the deceit in
their words or the honesty when they spoke. I do not know how true this can be,
but the day the Bank asked for collateral for a Business Loan I asked for, so I
could reopen my shop, Lilith would not part with our Wedding Rings, her
Mother's Locket, and a sliver of gold in the shape of a Leaf given to her by
her Father! Not a day later, the Bank Manager had fled with everyone's savings
from inside those Safe Deposit Boxes of theirs, which then closed this Bank as
another rush came from the Towns People hoping any savings of theirs was left!”
“Grandpa, do you think the
glasses are magic?” asked Julius with his eyes widening in anticipation.
“Don't be dumb.” said his sister
flatly. “There is no such thing as magic!”
“Oh, let me correct you there my
child.” I said. “Words, Friendship, the World, Animals, Plants, the Sky, and
many other beautiful things in life are magical!”
“Take for example, if I were an
evil person and told you every morning when you woke up that you were ugly,
after a time of hearing those same words over and over, you would start to
believe you were ugly.”
“Being the good individual that
I am, instead I would tell you, that there are many wonderful things in life to
experience, just keep your head up and perceive what is all around you!”
“And if you do keep your head
raised up high upon your shoulders, you will notice that many extraordinary
elements of life will be right in front of you for the taking.”
I raised my head slightly higher
and reaching out with my hands, panning from left to right to show how much
more I was able to see.
“But if I was monster who wanted
to control you, I would frighten you into thinking everything around you was
horrid except for me. I would tell you to keep your eyes looking down, so your
vision was minimal, telling you that if you would never look up, you couldn't
see the atrocities that lurk around every corner. In this way I would control
your line of vision and the only insights into life would be from me. I would
make your world so small that you would never notice the beauty which surrounds
us all.”
I cupped my hands around my eyes
and bent my head down to try to show how small of an area I would be able to
view. Hoping to demonstrate how closed in your world would be if someone never
looked up.
“You see, magic is not what a
Magician try’s to fool you with, those are tricks. Magic comes from the daily
stimuli you get from just living. Influences that can make a coward of a man
turn brave in a instant if he sees himself or his family in danger. An average
man turn righteous by finding the time to help a stranger in need. A desperate
man stay honest when he returns a wallet he has found because he knows it is
the right thing to do.”
“But I am afraid Magic can also
create the opposite in people who are constantly exposed to the bitter,
loathing, ungrateful, greedy, and dark thoughts of an evil presence.”
“Life seems so long when you are
first born, but as you grow older, time will fly by quickly. If you are
influenced in a negative way while you are young, life will be a torment as you
grow old and you will wish it to end. If the stimuli around you is positive,
you will be happy in life no matter what kind of ups and downs you go through.
With the right kind of attitude, you will know deep down inside that living is
an adventure that needs to be experienced!”
“It is true when you hear
someone say; Live life to the fullest, its a waste of your soul to let it pass
you by!”
I paused here to see Jerri's
reaction.
“Da Da, was all this a lesson on
life or something?” Jerri asked
“I wouldn't say that exactly.”
“Can I have my present now?” She
questioned me. Then she quickly reached across the kitchen table to grab the
wrapped package in front of me.
As she tore opened the gift, we
all sang together out of tune, the first few stanzas of Happy Birthday.
“These look pretty cool Grandpa.
I like them.”
Jerri was turning over the Rose
Color Glasses, viewing them from all sides. “They look so retro with the wire
rims and the rectangular glass. Thanks again Da Da.”
Jerri got up from the breakfast
table announcing, “I gotta go. I want to show these glasses to my boyfriend.”
When she passed by her Mother,
Jerri gave her a kiss on her cheek, then said, “I'll be back for supper, after
little Julius's soccer game. OK? By!”
She put on the glasses and ran
out the door.
After the bewildered look
finally wore off on my daughters face, she looked at me and said thanks.
“For what?” I asked. “Its not me
who told her to kiss you on the cheek. It must have been the glasses!”
“You think so Grandpa? Julius
asked.
“Now don't you worry about
anything but your soccer game son.” Jerome bellowed in. “You have a birthday
coming up in a couple of months. So let's see what your Grandfather has up his
sleeve then. But today, we have a game to win.”
With that said, Jerome and my
Grandson went upstairs to dress for the game. Danielle started to clear the
table of the breakfast dishes. And I rolled the rest of the sausages from the
platter onto my plate!
“By the way Dad,” my daughter
said with a quizzical look to her. “Did you remember to take the price tag off
the glasses this time?”
“Sure I did.” Thinking back to
the time I told this story to Danielle when she was young. “You don't think I
would make that same mistake twice do you?”
EPILOGUE
3 Years Later
This is an update about Jerri
and how she has changed these past few years.
Since I am a bit of a story
teller, who might exaggerate once in awhile to get his point across. With the
outcome of this tale, the truth will do just fine.
No she didn't become Mother
Teresa by helping the poor because of her glasses. She did however go back to
school, found a new boyfriend who is an active outdoors man, made new friends
who have positive attitudes, and has a great relationship with her parents now.
She is happy.
You might think that I am going
to tell you that those Rose Color Glasses had magic in them. But I think the
real magic came from having the right kind of support from her family, her new
friends, her new relationship, going back to school instead of laying around the
house doing nothing, and just having a positive outlook on life.
Besides, I have been wearing my
Rose Color Glasses for over forty-five years now and I don't see how they have
made any difference with me!?
This is,
Believing There Really Is Magic In The World,
Jim Hauenstein,
And,
“Thriller writers see a rose colored world through dark tinted glasses.”
- Carl Henegan -
That is my story and I am sticking it!
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