My Granddad has Two Legs

My Granddad has two legs.It’s a miracle.

When he was a young man, he wanted to become a carpenter. No surprise there. For generations, Johnson men had been becoming carpenters. Accordingly, he took himself off to night school to learn the trade.

One evening, late, as he was biking home, a drunk in a car ploughed into my grandfather and busted his leg.

Poor Granddad was in a cast for weeks. But the trouble really began when the doctor removed the cast.“It’s gone gangrenous,” gasped the doctor, shocked. “Arthur, weren’t you in terrible pain?”

“Yes,” agreed Granddad, gloomily. “But I expected a broken leg to hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” said the doctor. “There is nothing that can be done about gangrene except amputation. If we take your leg off now, you’ll at least have a knee. If we leave it, you’ll have a stump.”

“Alright,” said Granddad, stoically. “I think I can build furniture instead of houses. At least it’s still building.”

“We’ll need your father’s signature,” said the doctor. “You’re under the age of consent.”

The conversation was brief.

“No,” said Great-Granddad.

“You do realize that the longer you leave it, the more we’ll have to remove?” asked the doctor.

“I understand,” said Great-Granddad. “But I need to try something else first.”

Then Great-Granddad walked throughout the neighbourhood, banging on the door of every God fearing family he knew. “Arthur’s in trouble,” he said. “Come to my house to pray.”

And they did. They prayed in relays for twenty-four hours that God would have compassion on my grandfather and take away the gangrene from his leg.

“It’s a miracle,” said the doctor, mystified. “Arthur, the gangrene is gone.”

My Grandfather is now in his eighties. He has both legs and a proud career of building houses all across the town.

He views his legs as a gift from God.

I view this story as a gift from God.

My Grandfather has two legs, because we know the God who hears.

Postscript. This is an old blog post. Granddad has since passed on to God. I have no doubt that he thanked his maker in person for letting him go through life with two legs.

Writing copywrite R.M. Hamilton.

Writing and Illustrations are copyright R.M. Hamilton and may not be reproduced without written permission. The photograph, Socks, was generously provided by Couleur from Pixabay.