His Name Was Abe

I do not remember any of my grandfathers nor any uncles in our family. It appears that all of my uncles passed on prematurely. My fatherer died when I was 13. By then, he had taught me something about farming that I cared nothing about. He taught me how to drive and how to tie my shoes, and it made him mean if I did not keep them clean. Beyond that, I had no blood male models in my family. Nevertheless, the Lord certainly made up for the loss of the family 'male influence' in my life. In the story book of my mind, today, at around a half past nine, I turned my memory page to a man name Abe. I once knew him some 55 years ago, but I cannot say that I liked him very much. He was a very aggressive and hard working man. As I look back, I think that we were a brief match made in heaven. I knew him as a shoe store owner, and he gave me my first real job. I was about 16 when he hired me on, and I must say that he tried his best to make a salesman out of me. He assigned me to stand at the front door and invite all who passed by to come in and buy a pair of shoes. It wasn't his fault that he failed in that department, because 'a salesman' I was never going to be. However, I also think that heaven must have been very pleased that he moved me very close to people-to- people contact. I tell you, Mr. Abe became one of many men whom God used to teach me bits and pieces about life in general and people in particular. Mr. Abe, truly another 'God send' and a mentor to remember. 030921PS