At the bottom of a busted shoebox I found an old yellow clipping from a local newspaper in Flint, Michigan. In the staccato voice of the 1940s, ‘Flint Folks’ narrates a highlight reel of my grandfather’s life during World War II: To the front lines in Belgium — then back to Le Havre on Harbor Defense and from there to Wiesbaden, Germany, where they ‘finished the war’ . . . Post-war plans: Jim and ‘Mrs. Jim’ are going to finish college — together.

When I visited my grandfather at his retirement home, I showed it to him with a dramatic flourish, expecting a flash of pride and perhaps a few colorful stories about his brush with fame. Instead, he looked it over for a few minutes before grumbling and stabbing at the part that says His Favorite Food. “I never said I liked chocolate cake! Especially not with whipped cream. They just made that up out of the blue.”