John and Mary

This is my Grandad. His name isn't John and my name isn't Mary, but sometimes that's what we called each other. Sometimes we still call each other by those names, that's just how we roll.



My mom discovered these nicknames when she answered the phone one day (I was probably about 6 or 7) and a man was on the other line asking for Mary. She listened and said, "Dad? Is that you? There's no Mary here." She probably worried for a moment about his sanity but before she could worry too much I came running to the phone, grabbed it and said, "Hello John!"

I've always been my Grandad's girl. He taught me how to ride a bike and before that he would ride his bike with me strapped into a seat on the back. We had a bike route that we would travel religiously. When I was younger we would ride till we got tired and then call and have my Grandmother come pick us up in the car. When I got older we would ride to Taco Bell, catch a movie at a nearby theater, then ride back home. I'm sure the Taco Bell counteracted any exercise we were getting, but it was better than driving there I suppose.

Grandad taught me songs to sing like "show me the way to go home" which was about being drunk - he even taught me to sing it with the words transposed so I sounded drunk...I was 8. It goes like this:

Home me the way to go show.
I'm bed and I want to go to tired.
I had a little hour 'bout a drink ago
And it head straight to my went.
Roam-ever I may where,
O'er foam or land or sea
You can always hear me songin' this sing
Home me the way to go show.

He instilled in me an appreciation for the music of Roy Rogers, Tennessee Ernie Ford, the Andrews Sisters and the like. He would often sing me the song "I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around your neck" except he would say "a hug around your dirty neck" to tease me and I laughed every time. He would listen to me singing in the car seat next to him whether it was his music or mine. As I got older he would let me choose the radio station. He still asks me about "Delores," referring to the lead singer of The Cranberries. He liked The Cranberries because of her voice and said she would probably be good at yodeling. This made me like The Cranberries even more than I already did.

I get my sense of humor from my Grandad. He can still always make me laugh. When he jokes with me - whether I've heard the joke a million times or not - I still find it genuinely funny. Puns get me every time because of his influence. We used to stay up late and watch The Barbara Mandrell Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Mary Tyler Moore. My Grandmother would always be beside us in bed snoring. She would say that she never snores. I soon learned that if I just quietly shhhhed her, she would stop snoring for 10 minutes or so.

My Grandparents let me sleep in bed with them when I visited when I was younger because I was frightened by a tree outside the blue bedroom across the hall. The tree made scary shadows and constantly scratched at the window - two very intimidating things for a small girl. I would start off in between them and at some point in the night, my Grandad would go and sleep in the blue bedroom, giving me his side of the bed to by comfy in. Such a gentleman, no?

And to top off all the wonderful things about my Grandad, he makes THE BEST grilled cheese sandwiches I have EVER eaten in my life. I am not exaggerating, I am not biased - if you don't believe me, you'll just have to come try them some time. Always perfectly cooked, never burnt, with just the right amount of cheese. They are amazing. Just one of my Grandad's many amazing talents.

My mom's favorite story to tell about the two of us is from when I was pretty young. Probably 5 or 6 I think. We were all up at my Grandparents eating spaghetti (my favorite meal they made) when I twirled a giant group of noodles onto my fork and announced that I had a big mouth just like my Grandad and proceeded to put the giant fork-full of spaghetti into my mouth. This story pretty much sums me up as a person. I wasn't a little lady - of course I loved all things pink, barbies, etc. but then I also played with GI Joes and was proud to be able to stuff lots of food in my mouth at once. I thought my Grandad was THE coolest person ever. period. And you know what, I still do. Time hasn't slanted my view...if anything it's made it better. I can appreciate and see the significance of the stories he tells me about his life. All the amazing things he has done and lived through, the life-long love he has shared with my Grandmother, and the dedication he shows to his family and friends - he truly is an amazing man.

And I love that he is still my John and I am still his Mary - even though we are both too old to remember why.