7 comments/ 18897 views/ 2 favorites Hey Pappy By: PTBzzzz The phone rang. When I answered it the child's voice on the other end said "Hey Pappy, you gots company. Can I send her over? "OK, Shrimp. Did she say what she wanted?" "Nope, she just asked for you." "OK. Tell her I live in the little red house about a half mile down the road." Shrimp is my grandson. His Dad is my son Billy. They live in the house where Billy grew up. Well, from the time he was 4 anyway. We moved there because the neighborhoods in our former town were too dangerous to suit us. After a while we had a daughter. Loretta and her husband live 3 hours away, and do not get back as often as we would all like. I needed to move out of that house and sold it to Billy and his wife Susan for a song. I had too much time and money invested in the old place to just sell it to a stranger. I bought a smaller house up the road a piece. I don't avoid the old place, but memories of the place made continuing to live there too depressing. Now we are working on a new set of memories in that house that are much more satisfying. They include Shrimp and his little sister Rosetta. They are good memories. I had just gotten out of bed when I had a feeling that my day was going to not be one of my better ones. There was no particular reason, just one of those "Oh my" sort of things. I had been puttering around the house for a bit when the phone rang. The feeling was getting stronger. I watched as the car pulled up my lane. A thin, gray haired woman slowly got out and moved toward the door. From a distance she looked familiar. As she got closer I could make out her features and my day went right down the toilet. The first thing I recognized was the funky scar on her right knee, and then I saw the one that matched on her other. The second was new; at least I had never seen it before. I knew the first one well. She now had 2 replacement knees, her hair was no longer brown and to her waist and she lost a lot of weight. I guess you are wondering what I am rambling on about. We need to go back 6 years to begin the story. We had been married for 24 years, they were pretty good ones too. We lived for the children as well as ourselves. We did not have a lot of money in the bank, but we were rich with experiences. Hardly a week went by that we didn't go to one place or another. Museums, and parks were the favorites; it could be local, state or federal. We went to carnivals, church suppers, concerts in the schools and any other thing that sounded like fun. They were encouraged to participate in band and sport activities at school. We embarrassed them when we cheered louder than anyone else. That is what family is for, isn't it? My wife and I were both retired earlier than most. We are both disabled. She had bad knees and could hardly stand. After teaching for years and carrying some extra weight from having the children, her knees were shot. My back was bad enough that I could not lift any more, my knees were also shot. I loved her to death and thought she felt the same about me. I worked construction for most of my life. To do the job correctly you need a good set of knees and a good back. I worked for the same company for 28 years when they brought in a new manager; he, in turn, brought in a group of buddies from his last job. They were slow, not too good and had no pride in their work; then work became harder and harder to find and there were layoffs. The senior people were the first to go. The company has since gone under. I do small home improvement jobs to help make ends meet. The terms are that I will work when I can, I will take a break as often as I want, but the work will be the best available. People like my work and my prices so I do all right. I even have a waiting list. I put the company in my son's name. He gets paid and gives me the maximum I am allowed to earn on disability. What is left over goes into a school fund for all of my grandchildren. Sorry I am rambling again, what do you expect from an old fart? Well, 6 years ago we were both retired. One morning I woke up a little later than normal and walked out to the kitchen to see what my wife was doing. She was not there, I looked in the drive and her car was gone. I figured she went to the store. I let the dog out and went back into the kitchen; there I found a small stack of papers on the counter. On top of them were her cell phone and rings. I looked at the papers; they were all of her monthly bills. There was no note or anything else to say what was on her mind. I spent a long time that day calling her friends, no one knew anything. I was beside myself with worry. When she had not returned by supper that evening I called the police and reported her missing. They asked if she had taken anything with her. I looked around and found her medications were gone and some of her clothes. They wanted to know if she had taken any money. I looked at the accounts; there was a recent cash withdrawal of $900 about a week ago, that was it. After the police left I checked her e-mail account to see if there was any indication as to what was going on. I found none. Facebook showed that some of her friends had recently sent her their addresses; I copied them to give to the police. When she had been gone for a few days I started to closely watch her bank accounts and saw no activity other than a small amount on her charge cards for the first 3 days and then that stopped too. The locations of her purchases indicated she was moving to the west. The last activity was in Missouri. I gave the police the information I had and settled back to wait. All I could do is watch her credit card statements, bank accounts and email. About 6 months after she walked out the police called and said they found her car at one of the addresses she had received on Facebook. The woman who had the car wanted it removed. It seems my wife visited her and left on the train. She said she would take care of the car a little later. I brought the car home and parked it in my garage; I drive it every Sunday just to keep it up. It is actually a nice vehicle and a classic. There I go, getting ahead of myself again. Every day I cleared the spam she got and responded to her friends, when they emailed her, telling them she was gone and I would let them know if I heard anything. Soon the only things to show on her account were her monthly bills and what I and the children sent to her. I noticed she did not take any money out of her bank accounts, but I could see that someone was looking at the accounts every now and then. Our bank list the last time the account was accessed. About 15 months after she left I hit the lottery for about $300,000. I paid off all the credit cards and the house then put the rest in savings. Once a month I sent her an update on what was going on in our lives. I asked her why, did she not love us, and was she living with someone else. I guess she read them but she never responded. After about 18 months she started to use her cards again, nothing big though. I could tell by the activity on her bank and charge accounts that she was somewhere near Dallas, Texas but chose to not look into it any further. After all she left me and chose to stay away without communicating; she needs to contact me now. I had tried. Every so often she would charge something and then pay the bill from her bank accounts. All of the activity was within 60 miles of downtown Dallas. She now had a nice amount of savings in her accounts. She was getting $1300 each month, from disability, and hardly spending $500 in 6 months. There was no indication that she was being paid to work, no tax records or such. After 3 years I emailed and told her I was filing for divorce on the grounds of desertion. She did not answer. I was awarded the house and contents. In the settlement I asked that my son take over her accounts. Three months later I sold the house to my son and bought the other one. The last regular email I sent her told her the divorce was final. I noticed she read that one but saved it as new, I guess so she could read it over again. She kept it for 3 months, and then it too disappeared. For the last 3 years I have only sent her an email wishing her Happy Birthday and another to wish her Merry Christmas. I have had a friend name Donna for the last 30 years; she worked at the McDonalds I used to stop at for breakfast. After my wife left she sold me a wonderful dog that I still have; the dog and I would go and visit her every now and then. Recently Donna's husband got very sick and died. One day while I was there for lunch her friend Mary told me that Donna was lonely and would welcome my company. I asked if she would like to go to dinner and a movie; it soon became a regular thing. Then we started to get the families together for picnics and the holidays. Last year we got married and now live in the little red house. She no longer works and is very happy. It is wonderful to have someone to hold at night again. I never thought I would be lucky enough to find love again. Well, that was the last 6 years or so. The woman walking up my walk looked nervous; as well she should. Donna met her at the door and asked if she could be of assistance. The woman said she needed to speak with me. They came into the living room and sat on opposite ends of the sofa. I introduced my wives to each other. The ex, Sophie, asked if we could speak alone. I felt the need to tell her that Donna and I are very much in love. Sophie nodded and I saw a small tear form in the corner of one eye. With that Donna went to fix supper, she was out of sight but could hear every word. Sophie told me she still loved me and missed me. She realizes now that what she did was stupid; her words, not mine. Tears were slowly running down her face. She had been working as a companion for an older woman since shortly after she left. She was paid a small amount in cash by the family; she bought her necessities and put the rest in a shoebox in her closet. The woman recently died, she was given the woman's car and told she could continue to live there for 60 days. She left the next day She felt a sudden need to return here. I told her that she had 6 years to contact the children or me and did not choose to do so. The children were, rightfully, angry for being deserted and my love for her had withered and died for lack of attention. She cried for a bit and then told me she was having problems when she left, and did not think about what she was doing she wanted to contact us but just never did. She could not explain other than to say she was embarrassed and the longer she delayed the easier it became to delay even longer. Donna came into the room and said "The food is ready, would you like to eat with us?" Donna and she talked during supper; then to my surprise Donna invited her to "...stay for a while, until you decide what you want to do." Sophie wanted to be a part of our lives again, but she was afraid and not sure how if she would be welcome again. We talked about the treatment she was receiving for her problem; she had been fine for over 4 years now. The woman she was caring for recognized her behaviors as something she went through years ago. She took Sophie to her doctor and he set up a program for her recovery. Sophie kept telling me she was sorry for what she had done. Finally I got to the point where I needed to get away from her before I yelled. I went to bed and left them talking. The next morning she started with the apologizing again, I walked out the door and went into town for a while. When I returned 3 hours later Sophie and Donna were sitting at the kitchen table talking. They had met less than 24 hours ago and were like best friends now. Sometimes I just do not understand women. As we ate lunch Donna told me "Sophie understands why you left earlier and won't apologize to you anymore. Also, Billy and his family would be coming over for supper tonight." "Do they know that Sophie is here?" "Not yet, Sophie will be in her room when they get here. I will explain what they need to know and then when everyone is ready she can come out." That evening we all sat down to dinner, there were 7 places at the table. Before we brought out the food Donna said there was something important we all needed to discuss. "There is an extra chair at the table for a special guest this evening." "This guest did something years ago that she should not have done and is extremely sorry for it. She asks for your forgiveness and wishes to return to your lives." "I am not going to give you the details or tell you what to do. I am going to ask that you, please, listen to what she has to say and welcome this guest as you have welcomed me into your family." Shrimp looked up and almost shouted "I bet it is that lady who was looking for Pappy. I saw her car out by the barn." Billy asked "Who is this guest?" I could see the anger in his face. Just then Sophie walked into the room behind him. The room got quiet, Billy turned around. He tried to get up, but his wife refused to let go of his hand. He just turned back and stared at his place at the table. Susan spoke quietly, "I never knew your mother and you never told me much about her except that she left without any warning. I know it made you very angry. I would like to be able to meet her and hear what she has to say. If you must leave, you can do so; if you do, the children and I will spend the night at my parent's house. I love you Billy and your children deserve to know who their grandmother is." The room became quiet enough that you could almost hear everyone sweating. Finally Donna got up to get the food. The meal was quiet, very quiet. When all was done Susan, Billy, Sophie and I went into the living room and sat down. Donna took the children out for a walk. As they went out the door she turned and said "Don't make a mess of my house, if you do you will clean it up. AND, I don't want any dead bodies." After a minute I started to speak, "Sophie, we were all hurt by your actions, you just up and left. You never talked about any problems, for all we knew you ran off with another man." She turned to Billy and said, "I will only say this part one time, I am truly sorry for the grief I caused you. I wish I could take it all back, but we can not change what has happened. We can only try to resolve any differences and try to continue living. I have always loved you, your sister and your father. There has never been any other man, I only have myself to blame for all the hurt and anguish. I hope I can make it up to all of you somehow." Billy was fuming now. Sophie continued, "I was having some medical problems that did not allow me to see things as they really were. I saw myself as old, crippled and fat. I thought how could anyone love me the way I am. I ran rather than doing the right thing, I was a coward. I have regretted my decision almost from the beginning, but I was too dense to allow myself the opportunity to correct my mistake. I loved the times all of you wrote to me. I cried as I read each letter, especially when you got angry and told me you did not love me anymore. In fact I have printed and saved every letter." "I still love all of you and pray that you will allow me to be at least a small part of your lives again. I pray that we can be family again, but I will not push it if you choose not to. I know that Dad and Donna love each other very much and I will never do anything to cause them any problems. I guess that the loss of his love will be my punishment until the day I die." I had never spoken to anyone about exactly how I was affected by her leaving; Donna had a good idea about my thoughts. I remained quiet and allowed them to continue. Billy was not gentle with his response. He told how he was not able to trust any female until Susan came along and slowly drew him out of the rage he felt. He blamed any and all of his woes on her leaving like she did. Many of them were not really Sophie's fault, but it was easier to blame her than himself. He had not spoken to me about how angry he was; I was astounded by the depth of his feelings. After he finished his ranting and raving Sophie looked up at him and said "I deserve all of that, don't I?" She then walked over and hugged him lightly. Rather than allow the anger and hurt feelings to explode further I suggested "...that we take a break and meet tomorrow evening to talk further. After we have had a chance to mull over the words we had heard and spoken." We broke up, Billy and Susan went home. Sophie went to her room. Before Donna came home I called Loretta, she was out to a PTA meeting. I told her husband to let her know that Sophie had returned. We talked for a bit about it. He asked how I felt about it. I told him I was still not sure. Donna came back into the house about 30 minutes later. She asked how it went. All I told her was "It was really rough." We went out to the swing to watch the moon rise. As we headed for bed we passed Sophie's room and heard her sobbing quietly. The next morning at breakfast Sophie said "I am not sure that I have done the right thing by returning here." Donna looked her straight in the face and told her "Well the worst is over, if you leave now you will never be able to return; no matter how badly you want. The family is in an uproar because of you, you owe the family the opportunity to come to grips with this issue. I repeat, if you run again you will just make it even worse. If you do that to my family, I will never forgive you!" "WOW!" I thought. "Donna, can we pack a picnic lunch? I would like it if all of us go to the park and talk about this further. We need to be in a neutral place. I have many things to resolve in this matter, as I am sure you both do also. I have had time to think about things for a bit and have made a few decisions I feel might be worthwhile." Donna headed to the kitchen to make sandwiches and pack the lunch; Sophie asked if she could please assist. Donna thought it would be a good idea. As they worked they talked. Donna bounced a few ideas around to see if they might work. When we were ready to go I brought out the car Sophie left in, 6 years ago. She cried when she saw it. At the park we sat overlooking the lake and talked about our feelings and wants and needs. We took turns talking in different pairs and as a trio. While we were talking, as a pair, Donna said that she thought that we might be able to allow Sophie to move a mobile home onto the back of our property so that she could be near. That way she would not under the same roof as us. It would show we supported her returning. Before we had started talking we resolved that we would not make any formal plans today. We would just bounce around ideas and think on those ideas for a while. On the way back Sophie asked if she could cook dinner this evening. Donna agreed as long as she could help. When we got back Sophie asked Donna to reach way down between her seat and the driveshaft hump, all the way down to the floor. When she did she pulled out an enveloped that was yellowed with age; it was addressed to me. "I wrote that the first night after I left. I am sorry that you did not find it on your own." she said. "Please sit down and read it together." Then she went to her room. Donna read the letter aloud: "Dearest Patrick, I pray that you are in good health and have found this letter as early as possible. I love you more than words can say. How you can love an old, fat cripple like me I will never understand. I had to leave so the family would not be burdened anymore with all of my health issues. This is nothing that was caused by anyone in the family and I have not run off with another person. Hey Pappy, Too This is a follow up to HEY PAPPY, when that story ended I was widowed by my second wife. My first wife had left me and returned after I had remarried. Both wives became the other's best friend. I was seriously dating another woman and my first had found a man who interested her too. I will try to make this stand alone, but if you have not read Hey Pappy it will help you understand some items I might leave out. Thank you for the nice comments on Hey Pappy. My first wife, Sophie, left with no warning and did not return for over 6 years. By that time I had divorced her on the grounds of desertion, and had remarried a wonderful woman named Donna. I knew her from a place where I got breakfast for years. Donna had sold me a delightful puppy a few years before we were married; I now have that puppy's great, great granddaughter living with me, as well as my other dogs. The current dog, Lovely, is as good a cuddler as all her ancestors that I have owned; I think there is something in their line. Donna died last year from a reoccurrence of cancer. I still miss her and can not bring myself to sleep in our bedroom. She thought that Sophie and I would get back together; something was missing and it just didn't happen. Since then I have been introduced to Martha. She is a beautiful strawberry blond and a bit younger than me. We are dating and considered a couple around town. I love her and someday might marry her. I need to be sure she can deal with the ghosts of 2 wives, one of whom lives 800 feet behind me and is a regular part of our family life. There is also the consideration of our age differences; I am not worried about that. I doubt I will wear her out too soon. Meanwhile I am working on building an addition to my little red house, Shrimp, my first grandson, has been working with me and is learning quickly how to do the job correctly. I told him "Learn how to do the job well, then as you get more experience you will become faster. Anyone can do a bad job fast; the key to getting jobs and making money is to do it once the correct way. Every time you need to correct something, it costs time and materials." The original dining room is too small for the size of my family now. There will also be a new bedroom with a large window overlooking the valley below and the sunsets that I love. The new addition will not interfere with the large back porch and the swing that Donna and I loved so well. Martha and I are continuing the tradition of spending a great deal of time in museums, parks and other local attractions as well as supporting the musical and sports programs at the local schools. Over the years our family has rebuilt and maintained the grandstands and snack bar at no cost to the school. Shrimp and my son, Billy, now do most of the work. To honor the length of time of our family tradition; the school board has named them "Pappy's Place." We were awarded lifetime passes to all the activities; they are framed along with the proclamation and both hang on the wall of my small office. We still pay for every seat we use and everything we consume from the concession stand too. We still cheer louder than anyone else, especially for the family and special friends. Remember that is what family is for; to support and cheer for and embarrass the hell out of the ones they love. We do it well. Martha has no real living family any more. The only living relative she has is her mother's brother; he is old, senile and very feeble now. I take her to visit each Sunday afternoon. She divorced her first husband before they had any children. My family has accepted her and she loves to spend time with us. She asked to take her turns doing child care and is called on often. We were having a late warm spell in the fall and were walking around the lake holding hands after another family picnic. As Martha and I approached the waterfall at the end of the lake we sat down and talked for a while; as we always do. I held her hand and turned to look in her eyes; they shone and sparkled. I could see her love for me. She went give me a kiss on the cheek, I turned my head and we kissed on the lips for the first time. She blushed for just a moment and we did it again. This time was longer and we hugged too. When we broke apart I held a ring in the palm of my hand, she gasped and held her hand over her mouth. I said "I love you with all my heart; I have a special place in it for you and would love it if you would consent to marry me." She held me tightly and whispered in my ear, "Yes." Tears ran freely from both of us. We sat for a bit and then slowly walked back to the family. After we sat down to dessert my daughter Loretta looked at the ring on Martha's hand and screamed, "When did it happen?" Everyone else had a puzzled look for a moment and then Sophie saw the ring too. She hugged Martha and told her she was a lucky woman. "Don't let him get away like I did." We were married 3 weeks before Thanksgiving. When we returned from our honeymoon we moved into the new bedroom together. It was the week before Christmas when Martha thought she had caught a case of the flu. I took her to the doctor; he ran some tests and told us it was nothing to worry about. She would be fine in almost no time. Martha asked how long until she should be over it; she did not want to ruin the holidays. Doc said "You should be feeling much better by then, but you won't be over this for a very long time." He was facing me and smiling as he said it. Needless to say Martha was confused, she saw us grinning at each other and said "What do you mean by that comment?" I walked over and gave her one of my best hugs and a good kiss. "We are going to be parents." I whispered to her. She fainted. It was a good thing I had hold of her at that time. Doc and I sat her in a chair. She came out of her faint quickly. She looked puzzled. "How did it happen?" I replied "The usual way." She hit me. "Well at least I didn't say doggie style." She hit me again. The doctor told her since she was over 40; this was considered a high risk pregnancy. He wanted to see us every other week, if there was anything of concern we should call or come in. We decided to wait until she showed to say anything to the family. Christmas and the rest of the holidays were wonderful, our secret stayed safe until the end of June. We were at the park for another picnic when Loretta did the hand over her mouth number again and whispered to Martha. Martha smiled. Loretta screamed. Why does she always do that? The family came running. We all sat down at a table and the questions began. No one could hear anything for the cacophony of noise; it sounded like rush hour in Manhattan. Someone did not like the noise and started to kick vigorously. As it all died down I finally spoke, Martha is due to give birth to our son around the beginning of August. Then there was more noise and more kicking. "Everything is progressing well; we have seen the doctor every other week since she felt ill just before Christmas. We will be going to the doctor once a week, starting in the next month. We have not decided on a name yet." The next month and a half were busy, and there was always someone dropping by to make sure we were doing well and help out as needed. One evening we were relaxing in bed, I was caressing her body and wishing that there was not a huge watermelon in our bed. She leaned over to kiss me, after she moved away her water broke. I called the doctor and we headed out for hospital. As I drove she called Billy to let him know. He was to call everyone else. When she was off the phone she smiled and said "Now maybe, you will stop talking to Sophie about when she was pregnant." I just looked at her, completely lost. She said "For the last 6 weeks you have been talking to Sophie in your sleep about when she was pregnant, sometimes you talk to Donna too." We were at a red light; I said "I'm sorry. I did not know." Martha giggled and said "I think it is cute. They were both very lucky to have you for the times they did, I am even luckier. When I divorced my first husband, I thought I would never be a mother, now my fondest wish is coming true." Horns honked behind us. We drove on to the hospital. After 12 hours of labor Joseph Patrick was born. He was 7 pounds exactly and had the reddest hair I ever saw. The first thing Martha did was count the fingers and toes, at least 4 times. When we were in the recovery room she nursed him for the first time, he knew what he wanted and dug right in. He had a healthy appetite. We came home on the second day, the doctors wanted to hold them both for an extra day since Martha was older than the normal mother; and it was her first. The family all welcomed us home and then left to allow us time to settle in. Enough food to feed an army of nursing mothers was left behind. Each day one or another of the children, and their family, came over to help around the house if needed. Sophie was there almost every day to cook and help while I was out to work, not that I was gone long at any time. Martha and Sophie are becoming best friends now. Shrimp graduated from high school in June. He was in the 3rd in the class of 240; they were from all over the county. The family is proud of his accomplishments. After Sunday supper he and I went for a walk around the property. I asked what his plans were. His answer left me speechless; "I want to work with you; to continue the tradition of your company; good work at an honest price. I was going to ask you today." I told him about the money we had saved to send him to college and how he could make so much more money with his degree. Shrimp told me he would go to school in the evenings; he had already signed up for the first classes. "But, I love doing the work you have showed me to do. I feel completely at ease doing it and love to see the finished results. People trust you to do a good job and I want to continue the tradition. The classes I want to take will allow me to manage the company; I just need the practical skills to do the job correctly. Right now there is no one in the area that does what you do, as well as you do. Those customers who cannot hire you need to bring in someone from out of town to work on their places. Or they hire some of the local guys who just do not care; their work looks ok when they are done but it is not done to your standards and never holds up. They also charge more than you." I had to agree; a good part of our business was fixing the other's errors. When we returned to the house I called everyone together and announced "There is now a new company in town. We will be calling it Pappy and Shrimp Construction. As of Monday morning Shrimp will work with me and learn how to do build houses correctly." Everyone was ecstatic that the company would not die off when I got too tired to work anymore. Shrimp and I started to take on more and more jobs. Word got around that he was almost as good as me; even with his help there was more work than we could handle. Later, when I was sure he was doing well on his own, we hired other workers for him to train. I believe one of the ways to train someone is to have them teach someone else; to teach they need to think of why they do everything, not just do it. I still continued to work but mostly just to be sure the job was done correctly. We now have 5 guys working with us making it a total of 6 workers and an old fart hanging around. The company still can't keep up with the requests for work. About 2 years later. Martha was feeling ill again. When we went to see the doctor he ran the tests again. This time when he came back in to give us the results he was shaking his head and smiling. Martha turned bright red and said "OH, NO! Not again." He looked at me and said "How do you do it at your age?" "Just lucky I guess. How far along are we?" "About 3 months I am thinking. You know the drill. We will see you every other week until the last month, unless I see something that needs to be monitored more closely." This child was born slightly premature, she was 5 ½ pounds. We named her Sally Marie after Martha's grandmother. The child is a real fighter; she came home the day before her original due date. What can I say; she hit the ground running and has never looked back. Sophie helped Martha with both children while I was out working. When I came home Joey was always the first to great me at the door, then Lovely, Martha and Sally followed by Sophie. Sophie always held back, but she was always there. Fast forward another15 years..... Pappy and Shrimp Construction is going great guns, we now employ 32 people. Shrimp hires only the best candidates and trains them personally. He now has specialists in plumbing, electric, rough and finish carpentry and some who just do small jobs like replacing doors, windows and doing siding. We also have a subsidiary company that only does painting, wallpapering and that sort of thing. Anyone who does not do the best work is let go and a replacement is found. The employees are paid top wages and have the best benefits available. We have only had to let 2 people leave. The family, the employees and their families all get together at the park for a potluck picnic 3 times each summer. We play softball, volleyball and many other games. One of the favorites is the hillbilly horseshoe contest, the horseshoes are toilet seats. We save all the old ones from our remodels. Winning teams are responsible for the next picnic. The Christmas party is always the best around. The company covers the cost; everyone gets a gift chosen especially for them. The employees all get their bonus checks at the end of the evening. Joey graduated this year, he was the valedictorian, there must have been 400 graduates. He is the newest employee of Pappy and Shrimp; he has worked with us since he was old enough to keep clear of trouble. I believe he was 16 when he was allowed to drive his first nail. That does not include the times he helped me with projects at the house, or worked with his brother, Billy, on the grandstand at the school; yep we still do that too. He mostly did gopher work around the sites until he turned 18. The next Monday he was a part of the crew. Sally is a junior next year; she is top in her class too. She always helps me work on things around the house. She especially likes to help with electrical stuff. She wants to be the first female on the crew; if she has her way it will happen. She took her turns as the gopher too. Martha and I spend a lot of time in the swing watching the sunsets over the valley. The bedroom Donna and I shared is now a guestroom; I rarely go into it. It remains much the way we shared it. Joey and Sally always had the 2 smaller bedrooms. Sophie still lives in the house behind us, she and Martha are best of friends. When the family goes to events at the school we make sure we take her. Out of the entire family she cheers the loudest. I am retired completely now. Every now and then I show up at the sites with Martha on my arm and boxes of doughnuts or pizza for the crew. We do not stay long. Last year Shrimp had to deal with his first customer complaint. We went out to look at it together. It was not really a big deal; but the customer was right, we did not get it right. The next day Shrimp called a meeting of the crew that worked on that job. He told them the schedule was tight, they would need to fix it on Saturday. They would be paid overtime for their efforts. Late Friday evening the customer called Shrimp to say he was satisfied. It turns out the entire company showed up to fix the issue and also did a lot of other projects around the house for our customer. He said the response was a little more than he expected. The crew dug his garden, planted and mulched a large flower bed for his wife, washed all the windows and painted all the trim on his house. The only thing he had complained about was a dimple on one wall in a new addition. Each of the men shook his hand and apologized for the error when they were done. The costs were contributed by the crew. The next day when the entire crew showed up for work they were told to call their families and tell them to come to the park that afternoon for a picnic; no potluck, all company paid. Most of the wives brought dessert, just because. Just after New Years Sophie had a stroke; it was not really bad but she could not stay by herself until the doctors cleared her. Martha insisted that Sophie move into the guestroom. Sophie insisted she should not do that; Martha won the little squabble. I think Sophie wanted her too. Sophie is doing much better, but she walks with a slight limp. Before she moved in; Shrimp sent a crew to build ramps on the little red house so there was no problem getting her in. They also put grab bars in many places and a new larger handicap equipped shower in her bathroom. The crew worked almost 14 hours but they swore they only worked for 8. The entire company, and their families, came around and supplied a picnic dinner the day she returned home. Sophie, Martha and I were talking the other evening. We are very pleased with how our families turned out; including Donna's brood. They are always included at each family activity. In fact, Shrimp has hired 5 of her grandsons. Two of them are crew leaders, the others will most likely get there too, when they get the seniority. Martha is now 65; Sophie and I are in our 80's and know that we are lucky to have had the lives we did. Sophie never found another fellow, and every now and then tells me how sorry she is for leaving me as she did. I jokingly tell her in a stern voice "Will you stop that!" Then everyone giggles Sally graduates from high school next month, she will be valedictorian. The next Monday she starts on the electrical crew as an apprentice. She couldn't be happier. We now have 5 great grandchildren, the youngest is in kindergarten. We expect another group in the next few years when Joey and Sally start their families. Joey married his high school sweetheart last year and Sophie sold them her home for a song. They don't have any children yet. They do have Lovely's granddaughter. She is called Sunshine; she is a great cuddler too. Sophie now lives with us permanently. She has her own swing on the back porch now and she frequently joins Martha and me as we watch the sunsets. If there are any more incidents worthy of reporting we will be sure to let you know. ----------------------------------------------- Thank you for taking the time to read the story, I hope you all enjoyed it. If not, oh well. I have been working on this since I submitted Hey Pappy; if I was not pleased it would not have been submitted. Obviously, I decided I like it; as you just read it. Be kind with the remarks, any well thought-out comments are appreciated, attacks are not. PTBzzzz Hey Pappy I thought this over for a long time and I regret that this is the only way I can find to solve the problem. I will miss you all terribly. Please remember me when I was young, healthy and not as ugly as I am now and know that I only do this because I love you so much. I do not know where I will end up. If you find me and bring me back I will just need to leave again. I love you all with my entire heart and wish there was another way. Give the children extra hugs and kisses for me. Your loving wife, Sophie" Donna said, "I can see the spots where she cried as she wrote this; and then she folded the letter and put it back in the envelope and then handed it to me. We sat silently for a long time. There were fresh tear stains on the outside of the envelope. I do not know what Donna was thinking; I was thinking that she and I might never have gotten together if I had found the letter sooner. As much as I loved her it hurt to think about that. I was still lost in thought when she got up and went to get Sophie so they could start dinner. I fell asleep and woke as Rosetta climbed into my lap to give me a big hug and kiss. I looked to my right and saw Billy holding the letter; he had picked it up from the floor. I told him he could read it if he wanted to. Rosetta asked "Pappy, is that lady really my gramma? Do I really gots 3 grammas?" "She is your Daddy's mother. Yes, you have 3 Grandmothers." "Pappy, can I love her just like the others?" "If you choose to you can love her as much as you want." "Thanks Pappy!" After she climbed back down I looked over at Billy; there were tears streaming down his face. He had just finished reading the letter. His face was bright red with anger. I said "Billy, let's go for a walk down to the barn." Donna looked out and nodded her head to agree. We went out the front door and walked the long way to the barn. We just walked slowly; he would not look up from the ground and spent a lot of energy kicking the rocks in the path. After we turned to go behind the barn he let out a long sigh. "How can she be so stupid?" he yelled. "That is the worst reason to walk out like she did I ever heard of." "Actually, what she did is not that uncommon for a person who is diagnosed as manic depressive. The mind gets very confused and tricks the victim into believing all kinds of things. Some people get violent, or climb into themselves and try to hide, others kill themselves thinking it will solve the problem and some just run away. There are as many reactions as there are victims. When the victim gets the correct treatment they can function in a normal manner." "Why, why did she not return when she was better?" "My best guess is she was scared and confused. She had done the one thing a loving mother would never do; she abandoned her children. She did not understand why or how she could do this thing. At the same time, she had a new family situation. I am thinking she felt she had a debt to repay to the lady who she was caring for." "BUT, what about her real family? She had an obligation to us too. She could have contacted us and let us know she was ok." "In her confusion I bet she was concerned that we would take her away from her friend, the woman she was caring for. You notice she returned as soon as that obligation was over." Billy was noticeably calmer now; he was still confused as hell though, most certainly more than when we started. I could see and feel the conflicts waging in his mind. I had many of the same thoughts. We walked in circles and talked until Shrimp and Rosetta came running around the barn yelling that supper was ready. On the way back they both held Billy's hands. Finally about 20 feet from the house Rosetta stopped and looked up at her father "Can we love our new Gramma?" she squeaked. "Yes Daddy can we?" Shrimp asked. Billy just lightly squeezed their hands and said "We'll see." The children knew that if he said that the answer would most likely be yes, later on. They both squealed and said "Thank you Daddy." Then they ran for the door. Billy stood there for a minute, and then reached out for me and we both hugged each other. "Thanks for talking." He said. "This is really confusing." I replied. We headed for the door and went in to supper. Most of the talk at the table was between the children and their 2 grammas. It was light and breezy. There were many questions about where Gramma Sophie had been and what she was doing. She answered them honestly, but simply. She did not mention her leaving or illness. When the children asked a question she was not ready to answer Gramma Donna would start talking. When supper was over and the dishes were done Donna took the children for a walk, back home, again. The 4 of us sat down to talk like we did the night before. The talk was a lot lighter and much more productive than the previous evening. Billy told his mother that after reading the letter and talking with me he understood how she was thinking, just not why she thought that way. Sophie looked at me and said "That letter was for you, how could you share it?" "You did not tell me not to share it with him and besides that I would have shared it if you had not returned. You abandoned him too. It helped him to understand more than any words I could come up with. I will share it with Loretta too if I think it will help her." The phone rang; Susan said she would get it. From her end of the conversation I understood that it was Loretta on the other end. Susan told her we were all talking and if I came to the phone it might slow the progress we were making. She found the letter on the desk, walked over to the door where only I could see and held it up, pointed at the phone and shrugged. I discretely nodded and continued with the conversation. Susan read it over the phone to Loretta. They talked on the phone for a while. Finally Susan came back into the room. Sophie looked up at her, but we continued talking. There was a lull in the conversation; Susan said "That was Loretta; she will be here on Friday evening. She and her family will stay at our place and she wants to talk with you on Saturday morning. She was very upset until I read her the letter you wrote, I checked with Pappy before I read it to her. I may have overstepped my boundaries, but I sent her a copy by email. She cried when she saw it for herself." The meeting was essentially over; we had agreed we would not make any decisions tonight. "Let's see what happens with your mother and Loretta on Saturday, and we will hold another meeting on Sunday to make some decisions." I had spoken and the meeting was over. While we were talking it had started to rain outside. I told Billy to take my car and let Donna drive it back home. When Donna arrived she looked hopefully at me. "It was a lot better tonight. Billy understands much better after reading the letter and going for a walk. I am not sure where his mind is going to go with this; I hope he can forgive her. She was a wonderful mother to them I would hate to see it all fall apart. The rain had stopped and the clouds were starting to lift. We opened the curtains and turned out the inside lights. As we were watching and cuddling, Sophie walked quietly into the room. "I'm sorry to bother you. Thank you for today, good night." Before we could answer she was gone again. Later as we went to bed we heard her lightly snoring when we passed her room. The next morning was bright, sunny and cool. The rain had dried and everything looked clean and new. I love to go for walks on mornings like this. As I walked down the road I thought I saw movement in the front curtains at Billy and Susan's house, I looked again and saw nothing. At the store where I stop for a drink and turn around, my cell phone rang. It was Loretta; she asked if I was doing all right and about a hundred other questions. I answered them the best I could and queried her on the same subjects. She was glad her mother was back and in good health. She would see me for a few minutes on Friday, but she wanted to talk with Billy the most before she met her mother. I told her to have someone call when she was ready, I would come over. We said our goodbyes as I neared the little red house, I went in to breakfast. Since Sophie had returned I had not gone to do any work, my list was getting longer and people were getting antsy about their projects. I had Donna call and tell them I was starting on my list again and would be with them as soon as time allowed. The first job was to replace the windows and frames on an old farm house, I had 2 more to do by the time the weekend arrived. I promised to finish on Monday or call if I was not going to make it. They were happy. I had a call as I neared the old house, so I swung in. Loretta and I talked, but did not do so much walking as I was tired from working. She was satisfied with my answers and thanked me with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. I went home to supper and a nap. Sunday dawned bright, clear and cool, the wives fixed breakfast. Afterward they started to prepare a cookout for lunch. Everyone enjoyed the burgers and dogs off the grill, and the fried chicken and numerous veggies and salads. There would be homemade ice cream for dessert later on. Everyone had a pleasant time; I noticed our children sat together off to the side where they could watch the goings on. After the meal Donna took the grandchildren out for another walk. We all sat in the living room; Sophie started out apologizing to Loretta for her sudden disappearance. It was pretty much the same as the other times. Loretta smiled, came over and gave her a hug, "You have missed too much from our lives. You missed some wonderful times, you missed some not so good times and you were the cause of some terrible times. I have missed you greatly in my life. If you are truly here to stay you are welcome to return." Then they let go of each other and sat down side to side on the sofa. Billy spoke next. "I was reluctant to accept your story at first. You can thank Loretta for pointing out a great many things to me. The letter you wrote did help me to decide I want you in my life again, with the understanding that you are here to stay. I will not allow my family to go through the same anguish I went through." He walked over and hugged his mother and sat on the other side. That left me. "You said it better than anyone else so far, your actions have cost you the love and companionship of the one who meant the most to you. As I told you first, Donna and I love each other very much and will not separate for any reason. You are welcome in our lives as a long time friend and former lover. Do not expect to be treated in any other way. We will see where the road is going to take us." The property here is large enough, and I have the building right that will allow you to move a mobile or modular home onto it. It will be on the far side of the property on the road that runs behind us. You will be responsible to supply the dwelling, the well and septic and have the utilities run in. In addition you will be responsible for all of your own utilities. If this is acceptable to everyone we can start with the permits this week." I turned to Loretta and said "I still have one more building right, if you choose to return to the area we can still put you here too if that is your desire." The plan worked well, Sophie was moved into her new home by the time fall arrived. One year later Loretta and her husband daughter and new born son built a small home on the back of our property. Moving on about ten years. Everyone has settled down into a peaceful loving existence. Donna and Sophie are best friends, they do everything together. I have slowed down even more with my work, although there is all I can handle at any time. We now have 6 grandchildren and each of them is loved. We just got back from our yearly checkups. Donna has been complaining, no that is not the correct word; Donna has not been herself lately. She gets tired easily and sleeps later in the morning. They ran all kinds of tests; the results will be in next week. We sat out in the swing on the back porch to watch the sun go down tonight. As we watched we cuddled and talked. "She said "Pat, I love you with all my heart, I know you love me too. I can feel that something is not right, please do not be upset when we go to the doctor next week. I have not felt right for some time now, but I did not want to worry you. We have had some wonderful years together, if they are to end soon then that is the way it is to be. Always remember the good times we have had." I hugged her and said "You always were the worrier in the group, the doctors will fix whatever is wrong and we will go on." When we left the doctor's the next week she was quiet, we drove home and she went in to fix supper. After supper we sat out on the swing again, "So what did the doctor say today? You have been really quiet all evening." She crawled into my lap and sighed; as we sat there she began. "Years ago before we were married I had a cancer scare. The doctors operated and removed it. I have been cancer free for the last 25 years. It has returned." "We will go and see what can be done for you." "This time it is spreading throughout my body already. They said there is no way to stop it now. I might have as little as 6 months to live." Through my tears I asked "How do you want to handle this?" "We need to tell everyone about it, there should be no surprises for anyone. I want to live what I have left of my life in dignity and as much comfort as I can. I will not be medicated to the point that I am a vegetable. As long as we are able I want to see and do new things, I want my family to be near me and know how much they are loved. As much as I love you; I need to be buried next to my first husband, Frank, in the family graveyard at the old homestead where my brother lives. We have been the best of friends, I am lucky to have loved you all these years but; Frank and I were soul mates since we were in 3rd grade. Please understand!" We sat for another half hour and then got ready to go to bed. As we kissed good night I turned and whispered "I understand completely." While she was still able we went to concerts and plays, we spent a lot of time visiting the parks we loved, and not a day was wasted. She began to include Sophie in more and more of our adventures. She said she needed help in the restrooms and such. Soon we needed to stay home more and more, Sophie was at her side most of the time. Sophie started to stay over some nights. One night about a month before she passed Donna and I were laying in bed. She said "How would you feel about bringing Sophie into your home after I am gone." I did not answer; I just held her hand and gave it a small squeeze. She went on, "When we were first married you used to talk to her all the time in your sleep. Many time you sounded like you were madly in love, other times you were angry. Since she has returned you still talk to her, but you are never angry anymore. I think you still love her but won't admit it to yourself." I rolled over, kissed her long and deep, and told her she was talking nonsense. "I want you to be happy when I am gone, if happiness is being with your first love then please do it. I have spoken to her about this and you both have my blessing" "I love you and am grateful you are thinking about my happiness, but now is not the time to talk about such things." I rolled over to her again and started to caress her body. She sighed, and exhaustion overtook her she drifted off to sleep. The last week she still refused to take any strong pain medications; I could read how badly she hurt. She still insisted in doing as much as she could for herself. Finally her body gave out in the middle of the night, we were lying there asleep when I heard her sigh, and she reached for my hand, smiled, whispered goodbye and was gone. I called for Sophie; she came quickly. Sophie started to make all the calls to notify the family and the authorities. The night before the funeral we had the most horrendous thunder storm I have ever seen. The lights went out in the funeral home. A few minutes later they came back on. The children joked that Donna was playing a trick on us. The morning of the funeral was still dark and rainy; while the pastor was finishing up the service the sun came out. The sun shone down through the stained glass over the altar directly onto the casket. It was beautiful. There was a pot luck dinner at the church after it was all over. Her children all stood behind me, as the oldest thanked me for making his mother so happy for the last years of her life. "Mom was lost until you came into her life and saved her. When Dad died she had no life for the longest time." I told them they were all my family and it would always be that way. After it was all over and I was at home alone, I started to consider the requests Donna had made of me. To always remember and love her was easy. To care for her family was easy too. But could I be happy if I married Sophie again? I have no idea. Life without Donna was not easy; I moved out of our bedroom and slept in the living room on the sofa. Every time I had a thought that I wanted to share she was not there, but I shared any way. The children tried to spend time with me, but they had their lives too. Sophie was around a lot, but there just was no spark between us. To keep my mind busy I started to do odd jobs again. The rules were the same as before, I just worked shorter days and took more breaks. There would be no heavy lifting or climbing ladders more than 2 steps high. I still go by the restaurant where we had met, Mary is now the manager. Last week she told me that one of the other customers had asked about me. She thinks the lady might be of interest to me. I told her she could give the lady my phone number; if she is interested she can call me. I was not in a hurry to get involved with another romance, good company is always welcome. About a week later I received a phone call from a woman who introduced herself as Martha. We agreed to meet at a bar-be-que place not far from where she lived. She said she would recognize me. When I arrived I asked for Martha; the woman they took me to was a beautiful strawberry blond. She stood and we shook hands. Lunch that day was a dream come true, we talked for hours about our like and dislikes; before we finally needed to clear the table for others to use. I paid and left a nice tip for the waitress to compensate her for the time we tied up the table. We walked around the nearby park for another hour before we separated. I got her phone numbers and address so we could go out to dinner and a movie on Friday. Saturday we went to a park for a picnic, the food she prepared was beyond any expectation I ever had. We talked about our former spouses. She was divorced 10 years ago when she caught her ex cheating on her. I told her about Sophie and Donna. She remembered Donna from the restaurant and had wondered who she had married. She said "Donna was on cloud nine for the few months before she married and left her job. Now I see why. " We are not a couple yet, but we are spending time together an awful lot. I think there is something stirring in my heart. Sophie met a gentleman who works part time at the local One Stop Store. They seem to be good for each other. I guess time will tell.