Tag Archives: susan gale

Put Enough Paint On The Brush

“Life is like a sponge. It’s a balance between soaking the right amount of fun and squeezing out the right amount of work.”

—Susan Gale

Today’s story is contributed by Tom Krause.

One day my grandfather taught me a valuable lesson about life.

Grandpa was a house painter.


My grandfather was a house painter. In his lifetime he must have painted hundreds of houses inside and out. He was a happy, outgoing man who made friends easily. It wasn’t hard to tell that he loved his work as well as his life. He was also an excellent painter. No one could paint a wall like grandpa. Consequently, he was always in demand.

Once, while in college, I went to help Grandpa paint a house. While working inside, I noticed how skilled he was at giving a wall a quality coat of paint so quickly. As a matter of fact, he could carry on a conversation with the homeowner, laughing all the time, while painting three walls to my one. READ MORE