LETTERS: A STORY ABOUT A GRANDDAUGHTER'S HERO

To the editor:

Our granddaughter sent me the enclosed and asked that I forward it to you:

Many of you knew my grandfather, Ivan Nothdurft, and many more of you read the numerous letters to the editor he wrote for this paper. In the last few years of his retirement, he used this forum to share his views on various issues as his way of continuing to minister to people. For those of you who did not have the pleasure of knowing him, I would like to share a story with you about the man who is my hero.

A tradition at every family gathering is playing pinochle. To the uninformed, pinochle is a game of cards in which players make bids against each other based on what is in their hands and what they think they can get from their partner. When they get the bid, they must then make that bid in playing out their cards. But in my family, playing with my grandfather, it became not merely a card game, but a battle of wills, a test of confidence, a challenge to see who would back down first and who could truly play the game. And my grandfather was the master. He would bluff us all day long, bid the highest and most outrageous bid, run up all the other players and somehow at the last minute manage to pull something out of his hat and win the hand, all the while telling us that he never should have bid on such a lousy hand.

Well, as a young player still learning the game, I was scared to play against him. Whenever he would bid, I wouldn't no matter how good the cards in my hand, because I knew he would bid against me. And the few times I did build up my courage to try, he would run me up. Frustrated, I would give up, tears coming to my eyes. Couldn't he just let me get the bid, even once? The rest of my family, witnessing this struggle, decided maybe it would be best to make the two of us partners and alleviate the competition, since partners do not tend to bid against each other. But oh, no. That didn't stop him. I think he may have even been harder on me that way. It took me a long time to build up the courage and confidence to bid against him, even if it meant I would lose. I would watch him smile those times I did bid against him, and after a while I realized what it was he had been trying to show me. He was challenging me. He was forcing me to compete with him, to stand up for myself. He wouldn't play with me as an equal until I had that same type of confidence that he did. And even though he hurt my feelings trying to show me, it is a lesson I will never forget. Once I had the confidence to beat him, I had it to play against anyone.

My grandfather taught me so much -- much more than I can share with you today. But I wanted to take a moment to share this story about a man like whom I strive to live my life, the man who is my hero, Ivan Henry Nothdurft. -- Juanita Gallion, Washington, D.C.

LORLA NOTHDURFT

Cape Girardeau