home > 21 what?
The details in my mind are scant at best, but I distinctly
recall when I first heard the name "The House of the
21 Thieves."
Over a heaping plate of juicy prime rib and a mélange
of holiday dishes provided by mother for holiday mirth (read,
"engorgement"), my grandfather regaled us with tales
of his youth, a time of somewhat dubious distinction.
My grandpa was quite the ladies' man but always one of the
guys. The son of a bar owner (and bootlegger and Prohibition
homebrewer), he was in the Navy and never graduated from high
school. And at one point, he was selling watches of less-than-ideal
quality for a gentleman of less-than-ideal repute. Their "offices"
were in a small Detroit building with a few other clients,
and as he told it, they jokingly referred to the establishment
as The House of the 21 Thieves.
It was around that time, give or take, that he met my grandmother.
And the rest is history.
For whatever reason, the name The House of the 21 Thieves
has stayed with me for a few years now, and when I think about
my family, I invariably pause to reflect upon where I came
from. I've not yet pieced together all the details of what
I plan to do with my time on this planet, but thinking about
my grandpa, thinking about my dad, thinking about my brother,
thinking about my hometown -- these things always seem to
evoke strong feelings in me that there's just something so
perfect about it all.
So why call my website The House of the 21 Thieves? I'm not
sure. I just know that it's an interesting piece of history
from an interesting man living in an interesting city. And
that somehow, I'm a part of it all. |
