He stopped over wearing the same black beanie hat I remember growing up. Not much has changed over the years, he always wears that beanie hat, he’s usually in a black sweat shirt and he ALWAYS wears his watch upside down-that’s to protect the glass you know! It must work, he’s had that thing ever since I can remember. My house is located on his way home, so it’s easy to just zip in and say hi and he does often. He’s been retired for many years now and sometimes while Grandma is still working, he gets lonely, so he comes over and asks me to breakfast. It’s almost ALWAYS when my to-do list is at it’s longest and for a split moment I think about turning down his offer to “get more things done” but then I smile as he looks at me with his big cheesy smile and can’t help but to put down the work and “stop to smell the breakfast” every once in a while.

The entire drive there he fills the truck with his stories. He’s a man of many words and there is never an awkward moment of silence, there’s ALWAYS  a story for EVERYTHING. Someday I realize I’m going to miss those stories so I sit back and listen no matter how many times I have heard it before. Did you know, he once flew a kite made out of 2×4’s…hahaha!!

My parent’s had me when they were teenagers themselves (my mom was barely 16 and my dad was 18), so while they had a lot of work to do learning how to raise a kid while they were a kid themselves, Pappy Davis was always that father figure. I’d spend lots of time at Grandma and Pap’s house growing up and those memories are part of the foundation to the way I view the world. Looking back, he taught me a lot about myself without trying. He taught me to work hard, because no one is going to be there to just give it to you. He taught me to try to “fix it” before you go out and buy a new one..haha, and he taught me that I will always need my family.

“Where are we going for breakfast today Pap?” I ask, “Where there’s the best deal!” He says. And that’s how it’s always been. He told me that ever since Valley Dairy raised their price to $2.00 for a cup of coffee, he is boycotting that place until the price comes back down! (tee he he) So we ended up at a little small town restaurant “up over the ridge” as he always says. You know, the kind of place that uses home style plates-not that fancy restaurant china, the type of place that uses a 13″ old school tv with “bunny ears”-not the flat screen tv’s with all those “rubbish channels”, the kind of place where the waitresses know exactly what you always order so when you say, “give me the usual” they know just what to bring out, the kind of place where the walls are paneling, the decorations are from the 70’s and the smiles are free! THAT kind of place!

As I sat there beside him and looked around….typically it wouldn’t have been “my kind of place”, but the company was GREAT and sometimes you have to put the “to-do” list down and stop and smell the breakfast!

 

photos courtesy of my handy dandy iphone