Monday, March 23, 2009

The grandfather i never had.

The first time i saw him sitting quietly in the day room, i was drawn to him. He had a head full of gray hair and was dressed sharply from head to toe. Though his clothes were old and worn, they told the story of a distinguished gentleman. I imagined what he was like as a young man, he must have been very dapper indeed.

He was very proper when he spoke, words articulated in clipped tones with the old southern accent. I enjoyed listening to him speak. He reminded me of a school teacher. I never asked him what he had done for a living although he did tell me about his days in Vietnam when he was a young man. A very young 18 year old man. He told me stories of how they would sneak out of base and go drinking. I was transported into a different time and place, back to the porch of my grandparents house, listening to my granddaddy tell me stories about his youth. He reminded me of the grandfather i never had.

I looked at him and wondered how he ended up in this place. He seemed fine to me. Everything was in place, nothing out of the ordinary.

Then i heard the giggles. His cute, childish giggles. He was so tickled by something. Share the joke, grandfather. What's so funny?

Nothing. Nothing was obviously funny to me, but somewhere in the recess of his mind was the greatest joke ever told. Sadly, only he could hear it and he didn't possess the ability to share it. Although, he couldn't stop telling me how funny it was.

I looked at him, so prim and proper; southern gentleman from head to toe and i finally understood why he ended up here.

Still, if i had a grandfather, i would want him to be just like HIM, the grandfather i never had.


This post was inspired by my favorite patient at the psychiatric hospital. When u work graveyard shift at a psych hospital, u dare not fall asleep lest you be slapped awake by a patient (or fired! There are cameras everywhere). So what do u do to stay awake when the green tea you swear by has failed to do its job? You write!

15 comments:

  1. Kafo GO AWAY!!!
    Good thing you have an something to keep u awake. Your patients sounds like a good person. I guess when you have to attend to people on such a personal and basic level, they sort of creep into your heart without you even knowing

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  2. lol @ that green tea...almost got some then read african weight diva's blog...you need a ton of green tea to loose weight...

    Awww the man sounds like a great guy and must have had a god life...or at least an adventourous one...

    We all need good memories for when we grow old....or mad as the case may be...

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  3. hello Sting. Just discovered your blog and I like it :-)
    I've also had thoughts on the grandfather I never had when seeing old men that look like perfect grandfathers, lol - I can just picture this man in my head.

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  4. Oh my...he sounds so lovely...I guess you can adopt him :-) ?

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  5. welldone sting...you will definitely excel...I totally admire your strength...
    You're a strong girl and don't nobody tell you otherwise...

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  6. wow, u sure have a good patient.... sometimes i wish i had a grandfather i was close to

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  7. lol. I just want to hug him! Well, I tried to go on the green tea diet... errr... bad idea!

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  8. nice post. You are more likely not to sleep in the psych ward cos you dont know what next the patient would do
    I wish I got the opportunity to meet any of my grand parents, I hear bits about them and I imagine how I would have been their favorite grandkid

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  9. What a pity! I didn't really know any of my grandfathers. I heard all the tales though.

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  10. Lol. Eiyah pele o.I hope the baba is not violent sha? And hopefully,, he has a family to make him feel loved.

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  11. caffeine and music is wat i use to stay awake mehn! if music aint allowed, a whole lotta caffeine!

    He seem like d dad i wanna have. And things happen in life that u really cant understand!

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  12. Aww, this man sounds so sweet! I'm glad that he brings something good to your life.

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  13. awwwww...he sounds wonderful...its a shame that hes there..

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  14. impressive note u hav got here.

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