Long Forgotten...The rest of the story.

The story "Long Forgotten..." that's posted a couple of posts below is true. Grandma's explanation follows here, as told by the author.

When the episode was over, grandma explained to me that her house had somehow become marked by the hobos as a place where they could receive a good, free meal. The railroad line that passed the farm was about a mile down the road.

My grandfather had worked as a telegraph operator at the depot many years ago. Perhaps he felt compassion for the desparate men he witnessed riding the rails as hobos and offered one a free meal. I'm sure he never anticipated word would pass so quickly among the men. How it was done grandma never knew. She didn't refused a stranger though.

I never knew my grandfather. He died a year and a half before I was born. Maybe, unknowingly, some kind gesture he showed many years ago was still touching us.

The National Railroad Museum had an extensive display of "Hobo Art" and memorabilia. If not for that exhibit, I can't say I ever would have recalled the incident. Thank you National Railroad Museum. DMK