Edna Sadberry posted: " He sat reading the newspaper, smoking his pipe, listening to the radio playing softly in the background. She peeked around the corner watching. She didn't have the experience of a quiet man so she watched from the door way. He wasn't loud or angry an"
He sat reading the newspaper, smoking his pipe, listening to the radio playing softly in the background. She peeked around the corner watching. She didn't have the experience of a quiet man so she watched from the door way. He wasn't loud or angry and she didn't know what to make of him. What she knew of men, was they could be dangerous. When he motioned for her to come closer, she ducked out of site and waited. He continued to sit peacefully smoking his pipe and she continued to watch from the doorway. He blew smoke rings and it was magical. She had never seen a trick like this and she came a little closer, stood behind the couch watching. He blew more rings in her direction and she giggled in spite of herself. The rings moved towards her and she reached out to touch one and it disappeared. Surprised, she looked to him and he smiled. His smile was slow and warm and she sat down, pushed herself to touch the back of the couch and relaxed with him blowing rings and the radio playing softly in the back ground.
She learned how to pick peas and shell them that summer with the quiet man and Grammy. She liked sliding her little fingers inside the pea pods and watching them pop in the bowl. Sometimes a few would escape and roll off the porch Grammy would laugh, "you are strong". She didn't mind a few were lost. She simply picked them up, washed them and put them in the bowl. Smiled and sat back down to continue teaching me.
I spent every summer with them. I never understood why the bathroom was outside but Grammy made accommodations for me, she put a pot under the bed and told me I could use that to do my business. Eww and okay.
Bath time was another interesting experience. Grammy put a tin tub in the kitchen and put up a makeshift curtain so I could have some privacy. She would cook while I bathed in the tin tub and the kitchen was warm from the stove and she was making butter biscuits. I loved her biscuits with as much butter as I could pile onto it and dripping with honey.
Grammy and the quiet man were so easy to be around that I chatted away and they seemed to like me. There was no yelling or fighting or scary things going on here and one of those summers with Grammy and the quiet man, she taught me to read. I hadn't started school yet so this was a plus for me. Grammy put me ahead of the game.
I was free at her house, running around the garden with no shirt, through the tall stalks of corn and giant sunflowers. I heard a noise and I remember asking her what it was, "it's a grasshopper" and she pointed it out to me. I leaned in for a closer look and he made a noise and hopped away. I continued to play and heard the noise again. It sounded close so I stopped and listened. I looked down and it was sitting on my bare chest. From my vantage point it looked enormous. I screamed and ran towards Grammy thrashing about and yelling "get it off, get it off me Grammy". By the time I reached Grammy, the grasshopper had grown tired and moved on. Grammy scooped me up and held me close until my heart slowed.
Everything changed when the summers with Grammy and the quiet man stopped. I remember asking to see them and being told I couldn't.
I felt I had done something to make them not want me around. Parents split and went on with their lives and I lost Grammy and the quiet man who taught me that men could be gentle.
FYI: I have shared this story before but not from Paw Paw being my hero. I've never acknowledged what he gave me in his quiet, gentle way. I think of him often and appreciate the time I spent with him in silence. I get a whiff of his tobacco sometimes and I can see him sitting, smoking his pipe and blowing smoke rings.
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