I think it was in the 1960s when my grandparents first came to South America as missionaries. Through my grandpa’s stories about their travels, everything from Mexico on down obtained a mythical status, that and Peter Rabbit.
I imagined him hiking through the Andes on his wooden legs and shaking many hands with his fingerless paws, or Don Eduardo joking with some kids in Peru that a bird lived in the hole in his leg. He’d lost these extremities in the Korean War when he was 18, but it didn’t phase him.
In every country he collected a hat. Two years ago he died. I got one of his hats, his persistence, and his stories. This week I got the chance to meet some of the people my grandpa told me about.
Emily
March 8, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Such a fascinating connection between you and Grandpa. I love it. It would be cool if we could somehow hook you up with his Ecuador hat.
UCDkiliclimb
March 9, 2013 at 3:00 pm
I’d love to see which one he had. There are a few groups that cross over from here to Peru, so I’m not sure what hat was Ecuador.