Sam's Bench

Remembering my grandfather, John Bertman Ryan. I called him "Sam" as an adult. He built this bench for us circa 1972. He was a carpenter. He immigrated to the US as a young man from Newfoundland, Canada. Our son's middle name is "Bertman" in his honor. Memories abound. I spent enormous amounts of time with him and my grandmother as a child. I lived at their house when I went to HGP and during my first year of college. I always felt special, important, totally loved and cared for, felt a deep sense of affirmation being with them. Maybe the happiest I ever felt. I want my son and his two children to feel that way deep inside and to stand tall. I will in our move to Franklin take this hand made wooden bench with us and will carry it and carry all my heartfelt memories there. These are Cinema Paradiso type memories, precious diamonds, rich inner images from my childhood and early adulthood. Grateful this day (and every day) for Sam and his gentleness, his goodness, his quiet nature. He was "salt of the earth".