Scott Grindstaff

Dirt and Other Stories Scott Grindstaff

My Grandpa, Leslie Johnson, loved to tell stories. He told one of visiting a restaurant with his brother Wendel and he ordered a bowl of chili. He had a glass of water with ice on the table and they asked him one more time if he really wanted the chili. He reassured the owner that this is what he wanted. The chili came and he took one bite and then calmly reached for the glass of water. When he breathed on the glass, full of ice water, it cracked because the chili was so spicy. Grandpa had served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to Norway and so he spoke Norwegian very well. He was walking one day in Salt Lake and overheard a young couple trying to console their baby that was crying. They were speaking Norwegian so naturally my grandfather walked up to the couple and in perfect Norwegian said, "I realize you are from Norway but your baby cries in English."Stories like these and many more have been handed down orally from one generation to the next, in my family, and if we ever asked if the stories were true grandpa would say, "It is as true as the first time I told it." It is the same with the stories I have written; they are as true as the first time I told them. As I was writing these stories I have thought about my pursuit of happiness. Sometimes I think it will come when I turn the next corner or land the next big deal. As I think about an old cherry tree or a walk in the backyard, though, or perhaps I think about the family and friends that dot these pages and my life; I think I have already experienced true happiness. May we all find happiness even if it is just in a two-handed tomato or a spot of dirt with sister and grandpa.