It was only when my grandpa, Joseph Rashid, started to get media attention that it occurred to me everyone didn't grow up playing hand-crafted, high-quality violins that their grandpa had made. Because tons of his instruments had been around me my whole life, it just seemed like it was a perfectly normal background.

 

When I began gathering the media for this Web site, it occurred to me how amazing my grandpa really is, and not just because of his instruments. My grandpa still lives by the cultural norms of his generation, which means that, because I'm a girl, he wouldn't be so rude as to have me carry my own equipment. So it wasn't uncommon on my visits for this 95-year-old man to lug a heavy reel-to-reel or computer briefcase from his house to my car. Did I mention he's 95?

Unfortunately, there had to be boundaries to the amount of information I would put on the site. Otherwise, I might have included his fun esoteric hobbies and habits. On his kitchen counter, he has set up a small motor to rotate a little turntable, so he doesn't have to reach if he wants a pencil—that is, of course, if he can find a usable pencil, as he's so frugal it's not uncommon to find a piece of lead attached to an eraser, in what used to be a pencil, but one that any normal person would have thrown away long ago. He also has little toys that he's built for his amusement throughout the years. He's made beautiful wooden chess sets, decorations, and he's specifically proud of his toy ladder that drops a wood toy down each step.

This was an amazing opportunity for me to see the brilliance and eccentricity of a man who I've only known superficially for my 20-some years of life. I hope all who view this Web site are as touched by his story as I am.

Crissa Draper