We don’t really know people...

I was just watching a PBS show on the Freemasons and their ideals intrigued me so I decided to do a little research. I ended up on a wiki page. And I read a bit about them. (Typical that they only allow men...which is a whole different subject.) For some reason the mention of the Order of the Eastern Star (OES) struck a memory so following the bread crumbs I wandered over there. In the See Also Section of that page is a link to Order of the Amaranth, of which I have heard quite a bit about. My Grandma Greenlee is a member.

"men must be Master Masons and women must have specific relationships to Masons."

- from the Wiki page

This suggests to me that my grandfather was a Mason. And I’m going to be writing a letter to my grandmother.

My grandparents have been a very important part of my life and my grandfather was the only consistent adult male. (My mother being married a large number of times.) He and I didn’t agree on a lot of subjects but we were close and here I find something that suggests that there were dimensions to him that I never guessed. I wasn’t able to attend his funeral but I understand that there were a large number of folks who did. I knew that he was very involved in community work, politics, and later in life, his church. But was he a Mason? I don’t know and I feel compelled to find out. Maybe my grandmother will actually write a letter back. (She never writes back or returns phone calls.)

One thing I regret about the life I’ve had to live, is that I didn’t get to know him better. I keep his picture on my dresser, along with pictures of my grandmother, my aunt Irene (deceased) and my uncle Speed. My grandfather was the most important man in my life and I looked up to him. In many ways I have tried to be like him. And I’ve conducted much of my life as if I would have to answer to him. I miss my grandfather. A lot.

Update: Yep. He was a member of Mt. Moriah Masonic Lodge #145 F&AM. It was in his obituary.