Funny Story
Vladimir (my grandpa) came to San Diego to watch Tania and me while our parents were out of town. I must have been 10 or so years old. So.. Grandpa drove us everywhere we needed to go, like to school of to go to the store. One day he was talking me somewhere and so he was backing the our Family Wagon (a jeep cherokee) down the driveway. For those who may not know, our house in has tall hedges all the way around the perimeter of the property, so you have absolutely no way to see if any pedestrians are walking by the driveway until you are already on the sidewalk. Anyway, as we were backing down the driveway slowly and VERY carefully, we heard a BONK! on the rear fender. Grandpa stopped right away, and looked at me with a confused look on his face. He checked the rear mirror, and no one was there. I hopped out to see what happened, and.. sure enough, we hit some little kid on a bike that ran right into our car as it was backing out. The kid was fine and he quickly got back on his bike and rode away. I got back in the car and told him what had happened, and i was giggling a little, because, amazingly, that had never happened before (and never happened again). The pitch of his voice went up and his eyebrows got all squinty as if he was staring into the sun.. He kept checking all his mirrors to try and figure out what was going on. I cant remember exactly what he said, but it was something like, "What was that kid doing down there?!!" The whole thing happened so fast that he was a little shocked and seemed a little confused. I told him everything was fine and that the kid was OK, and that it's really a terribly blind intersection. His demeanor went from annoyed to relaxed over the next minute, and we went on to the store or wherever we were going. We talked about it a little bit and i was giggling because it was just kind of funny, and after a minute or two, he let go of his concern and flashed a tiny, mischievous grin. I could tell he was trying to remain serious and concerned, but the two of us decided the little kid should have been more careful, and we laughed a little and just kept on driving. I treasured my time with him, he was really a great companion, and we had many silly encounters during his stays with us.. i will try to add another one soon! love you all... miss you, grandpa.
Posted by Peter Nochisaki
Monday December 9, 2013 at 2:00 pm