By Elder Cecil O. Samuelson

Of the Seventy


Cecil O. Samuelson Jr.

Both of my grandfathers were working men. My mother's father was a machinist for the railroad, and my other grandfather was a handyman who worked at a downtown hotel all of his career. He was a very skilled carpenter and painter.

When I was young I would sometimes work with my grandfather. One time he asked me to help him paint the frame part of their old home in Salt Lake City. I remember working with him and how I thought he was so careful in trying to teach me how to paint correctly. We spent lots of time with the wire brushes and the sandpaper and putty and making sure the surfaces were all prepared well. Then he taught me to paint a board working with the grain, starting at the top and working down.

Doing all these kinds of things, I really thought he was teaching me to be a painter. And although I learned some of the techniques and I've done a lot of painting around the house, I know he was really teaching me more than how to paint. While we were working, my grandfather would talk and tell stories. And, in retrospect, I know that he was teaching me.