He wrote a book?

Okay, so last year..... the day I came back to work..... we got the call.... my granny ('lil Dubya's super-gran) had passed away in Ireland at the ripe old age of 90.

My granddad, her husband had passed away several years earlier -- so there was the matter of disposing of her assets (a.k.a her house). The house is in a gorgeous part of Ireland, but is old and in disrepair -- so the children (my dad, aunts & uncles) agreed that selling it was the only sensible thing to do. As is customary, they waited until she'd been gone a year to put it on the market..... her anniversary was Tuesday and didn't it pop up on the internet on Wednesday.

Anyway, real estate postings are quite different in Ireland -- if you go to www.realtor.com here in the States, you'll get a brief description of the property -- the dimensions of the rooms -- maybe a description of any unique features..... some pricing/tax information.... but that's about it.

In Ireland, the description is a few pages long -- they carefully take you from room to room -- up the stairs, into the closets and give a detailed description of everything right down to the shelves, windows & doors. The same care is given to the yard, the surroundings and..... to the history of the house and those who have lived there.

It was in this description that I learned, my grandfather had authored a book in the late 1940s while living there -- it was one of two books that had been written in the house since it was built. I called Aunt P "Did you know Granddad wrote a book?" -- Nope, she didn't know either. Stupid American that I am, I went and searched for it on Amazon.com...... of course, it's not there. I called Granny "Did you know Granddad wrote a book?" -- Nope, she didn't know..... Dad will surely be aware of this...... "Dad, did you know Granddad wrote a book" Yeah, he knew -- but says that it's been out of print for years -- it's in Gaelic and he's not sure anybody has a copy.

This wasn't good enough for me...... the family needs to have a copy..... I need to be able to pass it down to the 'lil Dubya and the 'liller Dubya that's on the way. My Dad gives up too easy.... he said that I'd never find one -- I suggested Amazon, eBay -- he laughed at me. "No Dad, the internet is amazing for this kind of stuff". Again, he told me the mission was impossible.

I'm not great at internet sleuthing...... The Big Dubya is really busy at work...... this is a job for Aunt P.

-----Original Message-----
From: MrsBigDubya
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 8:21 AM
To: Aunt P
Cc: MrBigDubya
Subject: By the way.....

I asked Dad about Granddad's book......
He said he wasn't surprised that I couldn't find it on Amazon (seemed amused that I looked) and that it was in Gaelic and out of print.
I told him it would be nice to have a copy in the family...... would be cool if I could get it for him for Christmas

And that was all it took...... she found it within minutes --

One thing I hadn't counted on....

-----Original Message-----
From: Aunt P
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 9:56 AM
To: MrsBigDubya
Cc: MrBigDubya
RE: By the way.....

Found it!
An irish book store.
For sale. 10 Euros.
I'll see if they'll let me buy it (american credit card and all).
We can give it to Dad for Christmas.

We? Did she say WE??? Did she steal my gift idea right out from under me????

Ever the diplomat, I suggested we give it to him from my kids...... she countered with from my kids and her dog..... SOLD.