I wish everyone could meet my grandfather, Roy William Combes, Jr. He goes by the name Bill. Born and raised in southern, IL he has an integrated view of everything and it comes across in his random quotes.
We live far enough south to adopt certain phrases and coin them off as our own, and add occational “twang” in there to prove our routes. We also live far enough north, not be able to call ourselves southerners.
I have frequently thought about adapting a book around my grandfather’s “southern/northern” quotes. Lesson’s Learned with Bill: a poor boy’s guide to survival. There was actually a point in time where I started writing them all down in a notebook. Currently, the notebooks existence is unclear to me. I have packed up and moved so many times I wouldn’t even know where to begin looking.
“I love you, a buschel and a peck, and a hug around the neck.” This would be the greeting and goodbye that would be my grandpa and I’s special thing. When it came to the “hug around the neck” part, I was to sqeeze him as hard as I could. As a little girl I was constantly having to prove my strength with two older brothers who were frequently testing me. Poor grandpa. He probably had no idea that I had been secretly training for our next encounter. Tight hugs are cute around the neck when you are four, but not when you are nine. Quickly, we switched the hugs out for pecks on the cheeks.
You never knew when grandpa would drop one of his “pearls of billsdom”. It could be while we were play cards, during dinner, just sitting around, or watching TV. Part of his charm is that you don’t know when you are going to be blessed with his deep thoughts.
One of my favorites is, “If that dog hadn’t stopped to stratch that flea, he’d of caught that rabbit.” What? Grandpa, that doesn’t even make sense.
It made sense to him and, now, it makes sense to me. Especially now as the race date approaches. I am overwhelmed with packing, selling, finances, trusting, believing, and letting others deceive me. However, all those things are fleas. They’re momentary distractions that take me away from what I am suppose to be doing. Catching the rabbit. I don’t want to miss out on what I was called to do cause of some fleas. To much time scratching the itch, or attending to fleas takes the goal out of perspective, and sometimes I loose sight of it. I have a purpose. I will chase after God’s will for my life.
Thank you grandpa. I love you and I miss you. I will see you soon. 😉
