"Life is a path lit only by the light of those I've loved"~Tom Waits
I remember being naive once. It was a long time ago. Almost too long to remember and long enough to barely remember it accurately. Time passed us by in a 1:10 ratio of school minutes vs summer minutes. The summers always went by so fast...Life was based around what cartoons were on a vacuum tube tele and girls still had cooties. That, and my uncle was an ice cream man.
The funny thing about ice cream men is that they have a truck. Inside the truck, usually, is ice cream. For the life of me, at that time, I couldn't figure out how everytime all the ice cream in his truck melted and how he managed to clean it all up before he came over. He must have ran his business into the ground. Either that or kids are so gulible.
He was the most gruff and blunt man I ever met. Blue collar hardass Dutch carpenter to the bone. "You got a problem? Take the bull by the horns..." was his mantra. Usually caught him outside smoking a Marlboro and drinking Old Style when I saw him at his daughter's, my cousin's, birthday every year in September. I actually looked forward to seeing him every year cuz i knew that there would be some sort of good natured ball busting that I deserved. You know, not everyone who gets punished or teased gets it unwillingly. If that was the extent of his persona i'd look back and smile.
Life likes throwing curveballs your way and there really is nothing like death and messy divorces to bring people together (they should put that on a flyer to the craziest circus ever).
So there we were, having a big neon vacancy sign lit up outside our house and there was a stranger in need of some lodging and shelter from the cold that is the world outside. You don't fully know or understand someone until you've lived with them. Have you ever looked into a mirror and have seen yourself 25 years older or younger depending which side your on? It's intense. A tripod makes a good stand, but something with four legs is a better stand.
I learned that what fire doesn't destroy it makes stronger, and sometimes you can truely get water from a rock.
Time passes as it does and will do.
And unfortunately Death does not discriminate.
RIP Uncle Mike |
Submission Name: Life is a Path
