Growing Up With Giants

 

 

Yesterday, I talked about my son.  Lately, Joey and I have both been thinking a lot about our folks.  Our Moms were both better than June Cleaver!  They were quiet homemakers and our BEST FRIENDS.  Our Dads were both hardworking family men, well known in their communities and most of the time, to the rest of us, they were BIGGER-THAN-LIFE!  Joey and I have been sharing our own "Dad Stories" and comparing notes on what it was like to have men like that as fathers.  We both loved the men our Fathers were.  They worked hard and they played hard too.  They stood for something when standing for something still mattered.

Daisy reminded me of our Dads the other day when she posted these lines from the movie, SECOND HAND LIONS:

Sometimes the things that may or may not be true
are the things that a man needs to believe in the most.
That people are basically good; 
that honor ... courage and virtue mean everything; 
that power and money, money and power mean nothing; 
that good always triumphs over evil; 
and I want you to remember this, 
that love ... true love never dies.  
You remember that, boy.  You remember that.  
Doesn't matter if it's true or not. 
You see, a man should believe in those things, 
because ... those are the things worth believing in. 

I can't even remember a family gathering where someone didn't have a story they would tell on Joey's Daddy or mine, depending on which side of the family was gathering.  It's those stories Joey and I have been telling each other lately ...


One Sunday after church, Joey's Aunts and Uncles and Cousins had all gathered at his Mom and Dad's for Sunday Dinner.  You know the kind ... with lots of fried chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, a jello salad or two, and another table full of cookies, pies and cake.  The women were busy getting the tables set and the dinner ready, making last minute lemonade and maybe even getting things ready for home-made ice cream.

The men were sitting out on the porch, still dressed in their Sunday suits, talking and laughing about the past week, telling tales and exchanging lies.  Joey's Daddy was a big guy.  He looked a lot like John Travolta does today, except that his Daddy was as country as a green bean and he had the Southern accent to prove it.  Joey's Uncle was a big Italian guy that lived in New York City until he joined the service.  Uncle Sam sent him South where he met and fell in love with Joey's Mom's Sister.  Even though the two men came from different backgrounds, they were dating sisters, and had both been in the service.  They had a lot in common from the very start.  What one didn't think of, the other one did.  Between the two of them, there was a lot of laughter before, during and after lunch.

Maybe, it was Joey's sister's boyfriend driving up in his family's big black Cadillac (they owned a funeral home)?  Maybe, it was The Godfather Movie playing in town?  Maybe, it was just Joey's Daddy and Uncle saying, "Wouldn't it be funny if we ..."?

No one can really remember how it happened but the boyfriend, Joey's Daddy and Uncle, all dressed in their Sunday suits, wearing hats and sun glasses got in the big black Cadillac and went to collect rent.

Joey's Daddy rented two little houses side by side.  The people that rented were always on their way to somewhere else so they never stayed long.  Since he never really got to know them, it was always a chore to collect rent.  Joey's Daddy had a big heart so he'd listen to their excuses until it made him feel guilty and then, he'd remind himself that everyone has to pay their own way in life and he had to take care of his family too.  It was a struggle though.  Part of him wanted to help out but another part of him just wanted other people to do what they agreed to do without making him feel bad for expecting it.

I can't even imagine what the renters thought when they saw a big stretched out Cadillac pull up into their yard!  Joey's Uncle jumped out and opened the door for Joey's Daddy.  They both adjusted their suits like two men bracing themselves for whatever they had to do.  Joey's Daddy lead the way and his Uncle walked slightly behind and to the side of him, looking like a bodyguard or a hit man, depending on what MOVIE they had just seen!

They didn't even have to knock on the door.  The renters were already standing their with their eyes wide, looking at the big Cadillac, then to Joey's Uncle and back to Joey's Daddy.  His Daddy said, "I'm here to collect the rent.  You're more than a week late and I need to get the money."

The renters started to mumble and make excuses.  Joey's Uncle knew how much his Daddy hated those excuses so after about five minutes, he adjusted his suit, unbutton his jacket and said with his Authentic New York Italian accent, "Mr. C, we are not going to have a problem here, are we?"  He sounded like a REAL MOB guy!  He looked like one and there he was, sounding like one!

 

The renters scrambled!  They went through Mama's purse, pants pockets, the family Bible and even looked under the sofa cushions and broke out the Coffee Can Bank to come up with every bit of the rent money RIGHT THERE AND RIGHT THEN!

Mr. C thanked them, nodded at Joey's Uncle and turned around, trying not to laugh as he walked back to the car.  Joey's Uncle was already holding the door for him.  They got in the car and drove to the next house, doing much the same thing.  This time, it was even harder for them not to laugh, but they managed to hold it in until they got out of sight of the two houses.

It is funny to imagine what those poor renters must have thought.  It's also funny that two Southern Baptists still dressed in church clothes could manage to look like mobsters, or that they would have even tried to!

Joey's Daddy passed away over 20 years ago but stories of the life he lived have become legends that will probably outlive us.  We lose more men from that generation every year and it's really too bad.  The world felt safer when those men were in charge.