My future father-in-law, we call him the old man, is a unique individual. I watch him sometimes because he truly does interest me. His manners, his attitude, his walk, his talk, his behavior, his way, his personality… he would be a psychologists dream. But me… I just like people… I like studying people. The what’s and why’s of people. And the old man is a priceless example. He is a person that I wish everyone could have the chance to meet. He is really a person I truly admire and respect.
His hair is all grey and cut fairly short and almost never neatly combed anymore. He wears jeans and a short sleeved button up shirt and always a pair of suspenders. Most of the time the cause for his mussed up hair is the cap upon his head that is never fully on just merely perched there. He squints more often than not because his eyes are not what they once were, but so often he’s grinning at a baby or child or laughing at some joke of his own. He truly finds himself hilarious.
True to being an old man, sometimes he can be “right cantankerous” as we like to tell him and he’ll tell you in no uncertain terms that he is damn proud of it. “G**D**N WOMEN” is one of his favorite phrases… but he treats us all quite well. He hollars and fusses but would do bout anything in the world for us. He’s an outrageous flirt and a devoted husband if that makes any sense. He makes me want to slap him and hug him in the same instant. He loves children but doesn’t do diapers or feedings. He does treats and presents and playing and wrestling and rides on the tractors. He has grandkids that aren’t of any relation whatsoever and he has kids that don’t have a DNA match up anywhere but he has the heart to love them all. He tries to be tough but that is the times in which he grew up. He’s just an old country boy but a big teddy bear inside.
The old man has had a few heart attacks and now he is not supposed to ride the tractors any more to mow the yard or move the hay or anything… like I said… supposed to. On the times that he does do it though and it leaves him sore, we know about it without asking because we can be told in no uncertain terms that all the tractors are junk and need to be sold off or hauled off. They aren’t worth keeping. It’s just his way of showing aggravation for being unable to do things himself now.
This cranky old geezer can almost never remember my name… half the time he calls me Lucy. He can always remember a nickname he has given a person but never that person’s name. Well, Lucy is the nickname he gave me long ago and it is still mine. I still love and respect him though. I have no true way of showing him or of giving him any kind of gift of gratitude for all he’s given me in our friendship because yes, I would like to call him a friend too. This is a sort of thank you to him. While he is still alive this is a tribute to him. A tribute to a wonderful man that I wish that world knew still existed. An honest man who can give his word and keep it. A man that would give the shirt off his back to help someone that needed help. A man that supported his family through hard work and honest living. A man that didn’t desert or beat or neglect his kids. A man that still cherishes and stands by his family, his wife, and his children. A man that is true to his wife. A man that values honesty and morals in those around him. A man that wears his pants somewhere other than around his knees. There is a man still like that and that man is The Old Man! We love him!
