# Masonic anecdotes



## gnarledrose (Mar 28, 2011)

JEbeling said:


> One nite coming in from Chicago to Houston was  waiting in line to get on a plane.. ! a little girl 10-12 ask me if I  would help her get her bags on the plane and could she sit with me.. ! I  ask her why me..? she showed me the S&C pin she had on and told me  her grandfather told her to put in on and if she saw someone with that  on a ring to ask for help.. ! we had a nice trip and when we got to  Houston her mother was waiting at the airport and she introduced me as  one of her grandfathers friends.. ! I didn't correct her and we walked  to get her bags I carried her carry-on.. ! her mother ask me how long I  had known her father.. ! told her I had never met him but knew he was a  mason.. ! she just smiled and o.. yea.. !


Stories like this just warm my heart, so I figure I should start a topic about MY favorite topic: Masonic anecdotes. Use this space to share your stories, first or secondhand, about meeting brothers in the dark, lending a helping hand, helping a brother's relative, etc.
I'll kick things off with one of my favorites. A Mason's widow needs help moving across the country and can't gather together the funds to do so; she contacted a local Mason out of an old contact book and they eventually managed to cobble together assistance across five Grand Lodges to get her where she needed to be.


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## Michaelstedman81 (Mar 28, 2011)

Wow! Now that is a really awesome story there. I got that warm fuzzy feeling...lol


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## gnarledrose (Mar 29, 2011)

http://www.mastermason.com/hempstead749/truestory1.htm
Here's a great bunch of stories I found, to get the ball rolling.


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## Tony Siciliano (Mar 29, 2011)

Great post gnarledrose - That jarred a memory for me.  (Sad part is, this only happened about a month ago).

I ordered my Masonic ring from SouthernCrossDesigns on www.etsy.com about a month ago.  I originally ordered the ring with the horizontal lines and the owner, Tom Williams, accidentally sent me the other ring.  When I contacted him about it, he told me to keep the first ring (!!), and that he'd send me the right one!  Not only that, but he included a nice S&C lapel pin with the second ring.  

These rings are fantastic - very affordable, and durable.  I wanted something I could wear everyday and not worry about nicking or knocking it.  Tom is a class act and I will recommend his web-store to any brother Mason.

It's not a life-saving moment or anything like that, but just one brother doing right by another.


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## Ceasare (Apr 4, 2011)

Some of the warmest, hope developing things I have read in a long time!  Thanks brothers!  You just lengthened my cable tow!


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## Robert Marshall (Apr 19, 2011)

I have many, but I'll begin with the one that occurred first in my own life. 

When I was still very young, about 5 or 6 years old, I was very close to my Papaw. He was my great-grandfather, a helluva character and Army vet. I didn't know it then of course but he was a well-respected Mason in the surrounding community. At the time, my immediate family was not very wealthy. Hell, my first bed as a baby was a dresser drawer. Dad swears he just shut it when I cried.  Anyhow, one day in a 8th grade football game, my oldest brother took a heavy blow and wound up on the ground in pain. Coaches convinced him to get up and "walk it off." He managed, somehow, to continue playing but by the end of the night, it was clear something was very wrong. The next morning, he couldn't walk. At the hospital, we discovered that a part of his hip bone had been literally broken off and was just floating about. The doctors recommended immediate surgery to remove the shattered pieces, but two things stood in the way: 1) We didn't even have the money to pay for the hospital visit, let alone a surgery. 2) Surgery or not, the doctors said my oldest brother, my hero and one of our school's best athletes, would never walk again.

I remember, even then, at that young of an age, walking into the living room and seeing my dad, crying, for the first time. Years later, anytime we pull out home videos, there's always the one where TW, my brother, wheels into the living room for Christmas. And he gets up and maneuvers around with some crutches, clearly in pain. My dad still cries every time he sees that video. Now, here is where Freemasonry came into play. My Papaw, being a Shriner and Scottish Rite member, told my folks they should take TW to the Scottish Rite hospital to see if there was something they could do. 

As you'll recall, we had no money. And my dad's pride nearly kept him from going through with it, but eventually, he swallowed it down and made the trip. Not only did the Scottish Rite doctors agree to do surgery, but they provided a completely different outlook than the previous doctors. Now, we were told, surgery would remove the pieces and after a great deal of rehab, TW would walk again.

Today, TW and I both have become competitive bodybuilders and mixed martial artists. He can walk. He can run. He can kick you in the side of the head or squat a quarter ton for reps. Why? Because when a poor family was backed into a corner with nothing else to do, the Scottish Rite gave us an out. 

Years later, when I turned 18, my great-grandfather passed away. I had been very close to him and his wife and in an effort to find out more about who he was, I visited old Waco 92 to learn about his old organization. I think it's safe to say I may have never become a Mason if it weren't for the above story. As of yet, TW is not a Mason himself, but just last week he expressed interest and I expect him to visit the Lodge within the month.


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## Beathard (Apr 19, 2011)

Wow!  Only word that comes to mind. Wow!


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## Brent Heilman (Apr 19, 2011)

Beathard said:


> Wow!  Only word that comes to mind. Wow!


 
I don't think I could have said it any better. Brings a tear to the eye.


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## Tony Siciliano (Apr 19, 2011)

Longhorn1rob said:


> He can walk. He can run. He can kick you in the side of the head or squat a quarter ton for reps.




THAT is funny!  What a great story.


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## choppersteve03 (Apr 20, 2011)

dude what a great story, from not being able to walk to being abel to kick dudes in the head. what a miraculas turn around.


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## Robert Marshall (Apr 20, 2011)

I'm glad yall enjoyed that story. I'll have to post another when I get the chance. Look forward to seeing more of yalls!


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