A Tribute to My Grandfather on Father's Day

My grandfather has always been more of a father to me than my own who went AWOL from my life when I was nine years old and stayed that way for several years. He was there when I was born and has remained there for me my entire life. At almost 80 years old, he has been the one constant in my life that and, no matter what, I have always been able to depend on through thick and thin.

My Knight in Shining Armor

I had lived with my grandparents off and on for two years before they took me to live with my mother and siblings in Colorado. Unfortunately, that bliss was short-lived when my younger brother and I were placed in a foster home following a beating at the hands of our mother. What was to have been a week slowly turned into a month.

No one said anything to us, but I was so excited to see our grandparents drive up to the house, but that excitement was dashed when I learned my brother had to be left behind because the state of Colorado said he had too many emotional problems.

Once we returned to our home in Amarillo, Texas, I couldn't get my brother off my mind. I cried in my sleep and there were many nights that I would wake up while calling out for Jimmy, my brother. Without fail, my grandpa rushed to my bedroom. Sitting on the side of my bed, he would give me a big hug, wiping tears from my eyes, and brushing my hair out of my face. "What's the matter, Hot Rod?" he would say. "Thinking about your bubba again?"

It was painful for me to be without my brother. Even though we are three years apart in age, he was like my other half. We were always the closest of the four children my parents have, so to live each day like everything was perfectly normal was almost unbearable. Grandpa always did his best to pull me through those nights when Jimmy seemed to call out to me in my dreams. I wouldn't see my brother for another six years.

Coca-Cola to the Rescue

When I was sick, his remedy was a bottle (yes, a real glass bottle) of Coca-Cola to soothe my stomach. This was also his remedy the time I decided it would be cool to throw some soap and water on the patio so I could "ice skate." This resulted in a nasty fall and a goose egg like no other on the back of my head. If I was hurting or sick, Coca-Cola did the trick.

My grandfather is the only one I have left, and he will be 80 in August. He is the sweetest man with the wickedest sense of humor of anyone I have ever known. I recall something he is known to say when he works on motors, particularly boat motors because it never failed that every summer when we launched the boat for the first time, it failed to start. After working on it for a couple hours or so, he would say in triumph, "Well, lookie there, Hot Rod! Got 'er running like a turpentine kitty!"

All these years later, I still don't know what a "turpentine kitty" is.