Gunsmoke and Bear-Hugs
“Heyyy Sally Sue!”
He greeted me as I walked in his tv room, the lights off as usual, with the afternoon sunlight coming through the windows. Pappy was once again relaxed in his leather recliner, half asleep, with the PGA tour playing quietly on the tv. Time after time I have been greeted by his same old, familiar routine.
“Hey Maggie! Come give Pappy a hug! I sometimes just don’t know if y'all love me. Yer Mamma don’t answer er’ phone half the time, and yer gittin to be just as bad as she is.”
I leaned down to give him a hug. His big figure enclosed around me like a fluffy, warm teddy bear. I plopped down in the club chair next to him.
“What’s yalls’ next play in.. a… ah..what’s it called..?”
“ Stage 2,” I replied, “Oh, we don’t know yet. We haven’t even gotten our placements for showcase yet.”
“Well whatever it is, I don’t think it can beat y’alls last play. I showed yer singin video to Frank Farley and Britt at work today.”
“Pappy! Again? People get tired of that.”
“No they don’t! They love it, Maggie, and they said you're gonna be singin in the opera one day. I told ‘em my favorite was the one you sang with that girl on the porch.”
“Goodnight my someone?”
“Yeah that one! That one’s my favorite…. Mmmm... Goodnight My Someone loo lo da loooooo,” he started singing it very off-key in his deep southern accent. “But there’s still time fer you to start yer country career. Now you can go on the voice and get Blake to coach you. Then I can go watch you on the Grand Ole’ Oprey,'' He said grinning ear to ear, his eyes wild with excitement.
He knows I can’t stand country music. But I laughed anyway, like I did everytime.
He changed the channel to an episode of Perry Mason, which we watched until it ended. He had almost fallen asleep, again, after we changed the channel to Gunsmoke. He loved John Wayne. I think he liked it because the good guy always wins.
Mama came in from the other room after a while. She and Elanor had been talking to Mema about the Alaskan cruise they had recently come home from. She said that we needed to grab a bite to eat before we got on the road. We can never all agree on where to go.
Pappy piped up, “Y’all know there ain't many choices in Louisville. I reckon we go to the mexican hole.”
This is what pappy called the one mexican restaurant in town. Its real name is El Rodeo, but he just calls it “the mexican hole.” It’s where we usually end up going together before we leave and come back to Meridian. The same owners have worked there for the past 15 years, and they all know pappy. Once, on my 14th birthday, he got them to sneak up behind me, and smash a handful of whipped cream in my face. Now everytime we go there, he jokes with them that they are going to smash another one. He knows that makes me laugh.
Before we left to come home, he gave me and Elanor a quarter, like he always does, so that we can get a peppermint patty at the register.
After we walked out of the door and into the parking lot that is shared by a gas station and an old motel, he gave me another big teddy bear hug and said, “Y’all be safe and call me when you get home. Don’t go through Dekalb, too many deer that way. And Holly, when I call you, answer yer damn phone.” Mama scolded him for cursing in front of us, but we all just laughed.
I didn’t want to think about it. Even though tears don’t come naturally to me, I knew that if I thought about him, I would break down. His bouquet was filled with bright orange and yellow daisies and ferns, decorated with turkey claws. Pappy must have known half the population of Mississippi. Every time someone I didn’t know came through the line, I just looked at the flowers. He really liked yellow. It was when I saw Mr. TJ, that I couldn’t contain it anymore. TJ Gennings was pappy’s closest friend, and Elanor and I spent summer after summer swimming at his pool with the other kids in the neighborhood.
When he came over he gave us all a hug and looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “I don’t know another man who was as proud of his girls, as he was of the three of you.”
It was true. Pappy was my biggest cheerleader. And he loved me a lot. He loved me no matter what grades I made in school, or what place I came in a race, or if I was slightly flat on a high note. And now he was gone. And I cried.
Every time I go to Mema’s house I go to his room. His old leather recliner still sits in its same spot, the creases and all, as if he had just gotten up to go cut the greens and he would be back to watch John Wayne with me in the late afternoon. He would ask me about my teachers and how junior year is going, and then about the cross country team, and my singing. After a while, he would fall asleep after a long day's work. I can still see his beaming smile and feel his bear hugs. Even though he’s gone, he still makes me laugh.
It's been almost 8 months now, and I think I've learned a lot in 8 months. I learned not to take advantage of time. Spend as much time with your grandparents as you can. Learn from them and laugh with them. Be grateful that God gave them to you because grandparents will always love you no matter how hard things get, even through success and failure.