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1:32:00 PM EDT
$10
There is an older gentleman(I met him thru charity work I've done with elder neglect) who likes to hang out at a local Mom & Pop store, right across from the apartment building he lives in. I usually stop in the store & pick something up & talk to him for a while; he has great years ago stories. I've had him over my house several times & one day when I picked him up he told a lady standing near his entrance that I was his little girl. He sort of smells badly & repeats himself a lot, but I am kind of used to that stuff by now.
I took him out with Daniel(Don's 10 year old) a couple of times, & he found the little boy to be a pure delight. Daniel said to him: You smell like my Grandfather(ha ha, that would be his Maternal Grandfather who stopped showering in 1986).
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah. I often give him $10 when I see him. Since Dad got major ill the day before Easter, anytime I saw him, which was much less, although I did hunt him down a few times since he never answers his phone & I wanted to make sure he was ok, I'd just give him money & say: Are you ok? No real chatty time, which is what he longs for. Even after Dad died, when I've seen him, I've handed him money & made no real effort.
Today he is sitting in the little store eating his regular sandwich(he will sit there for hours looking out the window) when I stop in. I hate to say(but it is true & I have little tolerance for people who change the telling of reality to make themselves look better)I handed him $10 in a very perfunctionary manner. He pushed it away & told me I wasn't his friend anymore. Told me I give him money but I don't want to talk to him. Said I was like his son & dil now, rush rush from the old man. He said they liked doing work at the church better because people saw that & told them they were good people.
So I burst out crying(my mom would have been 84 today & I always try to actually do NICE things on her birthday. Briege has yellowfin tuna to celebrate :-), & told him my Dad died last month & I was sorry.
So he held me & hugged me. We both felt a lot better.
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So, Mary were you just distracted by your dad's death or was the old gentleman building himself up in his stories in your eyes which was causing the lack of chat time? I'm glad you two had hug time even though he smells like a grandpa. LOL...I had to laugh at that one. Chris
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As Per comment 76: Henry, the guy I made the turkey for ;-0, sat on the porch one day last year drinking with Don's Dad(they had a ball), this is a much older gentlemen who drinks a lot less :-). ~Mary
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Is this the same gentleman who sat on your porch and drank martinis with Don's dad? It is great that the guy knows what he needs and isn't afraid to ask for it. It's also great that you are doing something nice for him - I hope you showered after that hug :-)
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You are a good soul, not only taking the time to chat with this fellow and helping him out with some cash but you hugged him as well....it takes a really special person to give a hug to someone (or someTHING, in my case) that smells as though they haven't showered since 1986. ;)
Lisa
6/11/08 10:10 PM