Grandpa Hill's True Stories

Author: Grandpa Hill

  • Winter Sailing in the Yard

    Winter Sailing in the Yard

    Grandpa as a boy in Rochester Michigan in the winter went sailing. He made the sail for his Red Flyer and it was better than his brother Eugene’s. The sailing was fast on that windy day on the icy yard.
    Grandpa’s speed, his fun, and the use of Mom’s new pillowcases got his mother very excited.

    Semloh, a wise frog that knows many things, including Grandpa, explains what happened that day. He explains to his friend Gorf (also a frog) and Marshmallow a hungry Racoon just exactly why Grandpa made restitution and why it did not hurt Grandpa to do so. Hopefully Semloh’s message and Grandpa’s True Story isare shared and shared and shared so that children everywhere and their parents will think laugh and live abundantly.

    Story teller: Donald Hill. Produced by: David Richman. Grandchildren in the audience: Annette, Breandan, Eoghan. Music: Michael Steele. Art Amy Steele.

  • Grandpa and the RAT

    Grandpa and the RAT

    In 1991, Grandpa, Don, was a development engineer by day and homeschooling and homesteading Dad at night.  Some persistent and relatively large creature was eating the animal feed intended for the ducks and rabbits. 

    As the battle with the creature continued, Don came to realize that is was a RAT that he was dealing with.   A very big and very smart RAT.  Don outsmarted that RAT, or so he thought he had, by storing the grain in the family car. 

    The mystery developed as Don would keep seeing the RAT, on, or running to, the side porch of the house to greet him as he came home from work.  It was as though the RAT expected to be fed by Don.  Eventually Don does figure out the schemes of the RAT. 

    When Don figures it out he needs to apologize to his children.  The RAT was just trying to survive and really wasn’t that smart.  Grandpa was trying to get the RAT and really wasn’t that smart either.

    Grandpa encourages parents and grandparents to tell their stories to their children and grandchildren. They may learn, and think about their mysterious situations differently.  Probably they will also laugh and enjoy life more.

    Grandchildren in the audience, Annette, Breandan, Eoghan. Produced, Grandpa Hill, David Richman; Art, Amy Steele, Banjo, Michael Steele;

    Please share this story with families and friend and remember to follow the podcast or to follow on the web at grandpahill-stories.org.

  • The Fan and The Finger – Childhood Story

    The Fan and The Finger – Childhood Story

    When Grandpa was a seven year old boy in 1964  he visited his Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Bob in Cheboygan Michigan.  Upstairs in a hot room a fan was spinning trying to cool the room and boys were playing and the fan was interesting.

    As Don was considering putting his fingers into the fan, perhaps to slow or stop it, his cousin John held up his finger that wasn’t!  A few months earlier part of his pinky finger was lost by putting it into the very same fan that Don was exploring.  Since then Don has considered fans to be spinning knives for cooling or clearing the air.  Not as toys!   

    His message to his children, his grandchildren and all children is the same.  Fans chop and mutilate fingers when they are misused.

    Please share this podcast with your friends and relatives.  It will make a difference. 

    Produced by Grandpa Hill. Grandchildren Lawrence and Kyla helped with the introduction. Grandchildren in the audience, it was vacation I don’t remember. Art Amy Steele. Pickin music, Michael Steele.

  • Grandpa Cuts Himself With a Chain Saw – Slightly Wiser Story

    Grandpa Cuts Himself With a Chain Saw – Slightly Wiser Story

    In 1974 Grandpa Hill, Don Hill, was clearing stump logs around Karl Greimel’s Estate.  He was 16 years old and  the blade on Mr. Greimel’s saw was 16 inches long.  When the blade entered his leg he knew he was in trouble.  As he drove himself to the hospital his left leg was warm and wet as his boot filled with blood. 

    At the hospital Don collapsed.  He came to and was soon being stitched half way up.  There was an interruption in the stitching and  a lack of Novocain that made it a very memorable experience.

    Grandpa shares this story with his grandchildren, his children and all children hoping that they won’t make the mistakes he did.  Don’t work alone, especially with dangerous things like chainsaws in the snow on a hill.  Never cut up hill.  Don’t touch any of the tools or supplies  when you are laying on the bed getting stitched by a very busy Doctor.

    Please share this story, with your family and friends.  Maybe it makes a difference to their futures as they Think Laugh and Live.

    Grandchildren In the Audience (I think):  David, Annette, Breandan, Kyla, Lawrence, Edmund, Levi, Emma and Eoghan.

    Author and Producer Grandpa Hill; Artist Amy Steele; Pickin Michael Steele.

  • An Incident at O’Reilly Auto Parts – A Slightly Wiser Story

    An Incident at O’Reilly Auto Parts – A Slightly Wiser Story

    Grandpa Hill was recently in the Latrobe  O’Reilly Auto Parts Store and an incident occurred.  It turned out to be a timely end to his search for sanding discs for his son John.  Then just a few weeks later it happened again but differently and better. 

    This time he was sent there by his son Michael to get studs a nut and a stud installer and to secure a price match.  Well, Grandpa Hill got a new hat out of the deal, $10 off in a price match, that his son Michael appreciated.  Grandpa, Don Hill, recognized how well he had been treated.  He wished he had started shopping at O’Rielly’s when they first came to town two years ago.  O’Reilly Auto Parts will be his first stop and likely only stop on his frequent runs for maintenance and replacement parts.

    Share this story about O’Rielly’s with anyone you think should give them a try.  Share the story too with anyone you think would like to improve their retail business by understanding the value the people behind the counter bring to the business.   As you do this, you will probably feel pretty good, as Grandpa does right now as he posts this Grandpa Hill’s True Story.   Remember to Think Laugh and Live!

    Grandpa Hill and David Richman produced. Amy Steele did the portrait. Michael Steele did the pickin.

  • Case of the Piece of String and the Danger I Found In the Louisana Bayou – Problem Solving Story

    Case of the Piece of String and the Danger I Found In the Louisana Bayou – Problem Solving Story

    In 1983 Grandpa Hill, Don Hill, a young metallurgical engineer was assisting with an investigation to find the root cause of a gas line explosion in the Bayous of Lousiana.   He expected adventure, success and a lot of work. 

    Dr. Ray Fessler was the lead investigator.  Highly experienced, Ray came highly prepared but carried no tools.  Don had the tools of the failure analysis trade, with him but never got to use them.  Instead Ray’s piece of string was used to solve the problem.

    While in New Orleans and In the Bayous and on Bourbon St. Don saw and did and thought things he didn’t want to see or do or think again, they weren’t worth it. 

    Think Laugh and Live! Share your stories and Grandpa Hill’s True Stories.

    Story told by Grandpa Hill 

    Production:  Don Hill

    Artwork:  Amy Steele.

    Background music clips are from Spotify.  Intro Rhythm Boogie, Piano Brotherhood;  Outro, When the Saints go Marching In, Rebirth Brass Band.  Grandpa Hill recommends you play their music often and put them in your playlists.

  • COVID19 Makes Grandpa Healthy – Health Story

    COVID19 Makes Grandpa Healthy – Health Story

    Grandpa Hill, Don starts out fearful of the virus and puts on his mask, and, distances himself some from family and even has some of his friends die from COVID.   At the time Don thought he probably would survive the illness just fine but didn’t look forward to finding out.   Then strange things started to happen the people that promoted early safe and effective treatment were ridiculed and removed from the internet.  Finally, when Kenny at work gets COVID and he gets zero treatment for it, Don gets motivated to take action.  Grandpa Hill was determined to be ready for all viruses by becoming healthier and more robust against upper respiratory viruses.

    In this Grandpa Hill’s True Health Story, Grandpa shares the heart of what happened to him and what he did.  He did not get COVID, and, he has not even had a fever since January of 2021.   Grandpa Hill was influenced by Dr. John Campbell to get good on his Vitamin D3, by Dr Peter McCullough to regularly kill off his viral load with nasal rinses by Desert Review’s website http://www.thedesertreview.com regarding the use of Ivermectin in Peshwar India.    Grandpa is not a Dr.  Grandpa is not in the medical field.  Grandpa is just a good critical thinker that is so grateful for his family and for how healthy he has been since the COVID Pandemic.

    Production: Grandpa Hill and David Richman

    Art: Amy Steele Music: David Richman

  • Grandpa Learns to Fish at Keystone Lake – A Faith and Family Story

    Grandpa goes to Keystone Lake in Pennsylvania.  He is repeatedly out fished 10 to 1 by people standing or sitting right next to him at the lake.   Inspired by his grandson Breandan, and his wife Mary Lee, he is inquisitive and talkative and eager to learn how to fish.  He meets Adam who was out-fishing him 20 fish to Grandpa’s  1 fish. 

    Adam teaches Grandpa how to fish at Keystone Lake.  Grandpa knows this empowers him to catch many fish and to teach others.  Now he can catch hundreds of fish in his retirement right alongside of his children and his grandchildren, if they are only eager and patient to learn the skill of fishing at Keystone Lake in Pennsylvania. 

    Grandchildren in the audience: David, Annette, Breandan, Eoghan. Produced by Donald Hill, and David Richman.

    Art Work: Amy Steele Music: Michael Steele

  • Grandpa, The Gun, and The Liquor Store – A slightly wiser story.

    Grandpa, The Gun, and The Liquor Store – A slightly wiser story.

    It was Halloween and Grandpa was 19 years old in 1976 in Rochester MI.  He wore his mummy/robber costume into a liquor store in Troy Michigan.  It was a dumb thing to do. Grandpa Hill’s Grand Children beg for stories of when Grandpa Hill does something stupid or gets in trouble.

    Gorf and Marshmallow discuss how Grandpa Hill learned to have empathy.   Marshmallow reveals why Grandpa Hill bothers to tell such embarrassing stories about himself to his children, his grandchildren and all children in yet another Grandpa Hill’s True Story.  During this Lenten season, Marshmallow and Gorf encourage us all to practice more empathy.

    Being empathetic is a virtue that Grandpa Hill wants to have more of.  He hopes others will learn what empathy is and be able to have more of it too. Grandpa Hill advises, “As you think about your situation, do what you can to make yourself  better, then laugh and live a lot.” 

    Please share Grandpa Hill’s True Stories.  Share your own stories with your children and grandchildren, friends and anyone that you think needs to think, then laugh, and live.

    • Produced by Grandpa Hill, and David Richman.
    • Gorf played by Grandpa Hill, Marshmallow by David Richman.
    • Grandchildren in the audience, as best grandpa can remember, Annette, Breandan, Eoghan, Kyla, Lawrence, Edmund, Levi.
    • Banjo Music by Michael Steele.
    • Art by Amy Steele
  • A Covid 19 Blessing, Grandpa Meets Melissal at the “Y”

    A Covid 19 Blessing, Grandpa Meets Melissal at the “Y”

    Grandpa Hill and Grandma Hill homeschooled their eight children from 1989 to 2016.   Grandpa had been disappointed, he had wished for a surge in homeschooling coming out of the whole Covid 19 scene.  It never seemed to have happened.  Then he met Melissa at the Y.  Her story motivated Grandpa Hill to check out the recent data on homeschooling.  He was pleasantly surprised.  If Grandpa meets Melissa again he will be giving her information about PHAA and a monthly square dance with homeschooling families.  Getting good and many connections was always helpful to Don and Mary for those 27 years of homeschooling and they want more homeschoolers to have similar connections to strengthen what they are doing in their families.

    • Produced: Grandpa Hill
    • Website, and Music: David Richman
    • Cover art: Amy Steele