Wednesday, June 23, 2004
What is that smell???
Every so often I find it necessary to spread the news of the weird that is my family. No one is more entertaining than my grandfather or "grand" as we affectionately call him. Of course his children often call him "weird old dude", but not to his face, it is just a glowing tribute to his strange ways. If you have read my past post about him then you know that I think he is the strongest and toughest guy I have ever known. That being said, a few months back after years of heart problems he finally agreed to a pace- maker. Now the only major health issue the man has ever had is his ticker so we are now convinced that with his upgrade he will most likely out-live all of us.
Well just a few months ago my cousin Ben was married. Our family loves a good party and excuse to come together so the people of Clemmons, NC were told to evacuate before it was too late. Now my father's relationship with grand is shaky at best. Dad is the only son and is also the only child living close to my grandfather, so they are often not speaking.
I have family living near me so I was able to ride along with them to the wedding. During the trip my aunt filled me in on all the latest happenings that my father had left out of our recent conversations. It turns out that the doctor had advised my grandfather not to bath for a few DAYS after the surgery. Well my grandfather misunderstood and was adamant that the doctor said 3 months. No matter how hard my aunts tried to convince him, he just refused to wash. It really doesn't surprise me, I mean the man only shops at Food Lion grocery stores, and drives 30 minutes to buy Hess gas. To put it lightly, the man is stubborn.
So here we are on the way to my cousin's wedding in North Carolina with no clue if my grandfather would be smelly or not. I can't imagine what a week without a bath would smell like, months is just inconceivable to me.
One thing that is a constant on this huge family outings is family drama. Most of the time it involves my father and grandfather who are on a different time schedule than the rest of the world. I really do love them but it makes you want to pull your hair out sometimes. I thought that I was going to have a stroke the day of my college graduation when I go to pick them up to take them to the school and my grandfather is still in his night cloths and reading the paper. I wish that was an isolated case but I know 3 other cousins it has happen to.
During the car trip to the wedding I phoned my father(my sister and I were having issues with his cloths but that is another story)I asked him if grand had bathed and he said he just didn't know. What a relief it was when he arrived at the hotel clean and smelling of "old man" aftershave. He even showered the day of the wedding. It just goes to show, the man is full of surprises.
Well just a few months ago my cousin Ben was married. Our family loves a good party and excuse to come together so the people of Clemmons, NC were told to evacuate before it was too late. Now my father's relationship with grand is shaky at best. Dad is the only son and is also the only child living close to my grandfather, so they are often not speaking.
I have family living near me so I was able to ride along with them to the wedding. During the trip my aunt filled me in on all the latest happenings that my father had left out of our recent conversations. It turns out that the doctor had advised my grandfather not to bath for a few DAYS after the surgery. Well my grandfather misunderstood and was adamant that the doctor said 3 months. No matter how hard my aunts tried to convince him, he just refused to wash. It really doesn't surprise me, I mean the man only shops at Food Lion grocery stores, and drives 30 minutes to buy Hess gas. To put it lightly, the man is stubborn.
So here we are on the way to my cousin's wedding in North Carolina with no clue if my grandfather would be smelly or not. I can't imagine what a week without a bath would smell like, months is just inconceivable to me.
One thing that is a constant on this huge family outings is family drama. Most of the time it involves my father and grandfather who are on a different time schedule than the rest of the world. I really do love them but it makes you want to pull your hair out sometimes. I thought that I was going to have a stroke the day of my college graduation when I go to pick them up to take them to the school and my grandfather is still in his night cloths and reading the paper. I wish that was an isolated case but I know 3 other cousins it has happen to.
During the car trip to the wedding I phoned my father(my sister and I were having issues with his cloths but that is another story)I asked him if grand had bathed and he said he just didn't know. What a relief it was when he arrived at the hotel clean and smelling of "old man" aftershave. He even showered the day of the wedding. It just goes to show, the man is full of surprises.
# posted by J.F.Tobias @ 12:57 PM 
