Carol A. Hand
My Anglo-American grandfather lived in a goathouse
Perhaps it was my father’s father’s way of resisting classism
flipping the bird to his gated-community neighbors
The descendant of the youngest son of British aristocracy
who emigrated to make his own way because of primogeniture
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New Jersey, 1953
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My grandfather became a master plumber for NYC highrises
but built his own home without working indoor toilets
The hand-pump in the kitchen the only indoor source of water
It’s where his oldest son lived with his family
easy targets of derision from the privileged classes nextdoor
He preferred his two story shack out back
with goats in the basement and scores of canaries flying free upstairs
His wealthy neighbors offered him fortunes to sell his farm
But my grandfather steadfastly refused
Sometimes I wonder if he stayed there just to spite them
Despite the foul smell emanating from of his goathouse
and his dour, unwelcoming and cold demeanor
I respected his eccentric, independent spirit
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Great man he is! What stature!
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Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Maria. 🙂
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You’re welcome, dear Carol!
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What a remarkable family you come from – on both sides. Why am I not surprised?
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Thank you for your lovely comments, Diana ❤
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I admire people like that. The ones that choose their own way and refuse to bow to peer pressure.
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments, Feralc4t. I share your admiration for nonconformists. 🙂
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Truly an eccentric and an artist – what a wonderful ancestor! xox
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments, Trace. ❤
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Sounds like a man with a mind of his own who stayed true to his beliefs. It comical in a way how he flaunted his beliefs. Seems like he wanted to bring them down a peg or two. You had good reason to admire him, I do and I didn’t even know him. Well done. ☺☺
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Patricia, thank you for such delightful comments. I do believe you’re right in assuming he wanted to bring his privileged neighbors “down a peg or two.” I, too, admire him for that. 🙂
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Your roots are strong Carol, and I am sure he is proud watching you somewhere now.
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Thank you so much for your kind words, Hector. ❤
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I would have too Carol! 🙂 ❤
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Thank you for your kindness, Natalie. ❤
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Shacking up and staying put alongside a wealthy neighbourhood must have been a courageous statement in the middle of last century given the steep class divides that existed in those times which refuse to fade away even in the present. Much of America’s prosperity today can probably be traced to the determination and dourness of spirit fostered by penurious conditions in which the earlier generations had to build their lives. I salute your spirit, Carol, for narrating it so proudly.
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Raj, I so appreciate your astute and thoughtful analysis of the context of class divisions and the resiliency that enabled ordinary people to “build their lives” and a nation. And I also thank you for your kind words. 🙂
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An interesting man but it must not have been easy to understand him or be related to him.
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Thank you for sharing such thoughtful, important insights, Bernadette. I think it was easier for me to understand him, and even admire his spirit of resistance, than it was for me to feel any sense of close kinship given his dour disposition.
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how wonderful being a continuation
of ancestors free of greed and perceived
needs of wealth and luxury, Carol!
my encounters with simple, “primitive”
conditions, without running water, power…
were so valuable in helping me
be deeper in touch
with my own existence,
& the beauty of being alive 🙂
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Thank you for sharing such thoughtful, lovely reflections about living a simpler life, David. In many respects, I miss living off the grid, but it’s been years. I no longer listen for the surge of the generator when I turn on the water faucet. Honestly, I’m still learning how to “be deeper in touch with my own existence” amid the busyness of life in the city. Gradually, I’m finding that this, too, is a valuable lesson in learning to see the beauty of being alive. 🙂
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I imagine goats make great company. He understood that. My step-grandfather would have gotten along quite well with him! 🙂
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Thank you for your playful comments, Lorna. I’d love to hear more about your step-grandfather someday. I’m not sure whether goats are good company, though. I almost had a chance to find out, but that’s a long, funny story for another day. 🙂
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He was a simple, kind-hearted man. I would love to hear that goat story! 🙂
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I promise to share it some day, Lorna. 🙂
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Good!
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A wise man. You can’t eat money. So long as you retain your claim to land you always have the means to provide for yourself.
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Such great insights, Dr. B. 🙂 Thank you.
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Cool. Great post.
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Thank you so much for your kind words, A Shift in Consciousness. 🙂
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I’m sure your grandfather had great reasons to be the way he was. 🙂
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Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Kev. I, too, am sure my grandfather had many reasons for living as he did.
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Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Kev. I, too, am sure my grandfather had many reasons for living as he did. Thank you for your playful comments, Lorna.
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I’m not sure whether goats are good company, though. Thank you for your playful comments, Lorna.
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Thank you for your playful comments, Lorna. I would love to hear that goat story!
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