Donald Eugene

This evening after work I drove the short jaunt to my grandparents' house for dinner, as I have every Tuesday this summer. As I sat down at the table, my grandfather began telling this joke:

So there was this woman, she was 50 years old, and she had a heart attack. And she's laying in the hospital, it's hard to breathe, she's in a lot of pain, and she looks up at the heavens and says, "God? Is this it?"
Suddenly she hears a voice from the sky telling her, "No, Susan. You have 40 more years to live." So Susan is thrilled to hear this and in about a week she starts feeling better and leaves the hospital. She gets the full works of plastic surgery, tummy tuck, face lift, everything and she looks great. The next day she was driving down the street, got in a car accident and died. Later on when she was up in heaven, she was talking to God and asked Him, "What happened? I thought you said I had 40 more years."
And God said, "Oh that's right! Well, Susan, I didn't recognize you."

My grandpa tells these jokes all the time. They're ridiculous. His delivery has gotten a little rusty over the years, but he always has a corny joke when I come over. It occurred to me today over pork cutlets and mashed potatoes that I hope to be something a little like him someday. He's had 2 heart attacks (his first at age 39), 2 open heart surgeries, and now has an electronic defibrilator in his heart. He got married right after high school to my grandmother, never went to college, and retired from a huge aircraft company that probably didn't care much about him. But, and I can't really say this without sounding demeaning, he is simple. Not that he is not intelligent, because he is. But all it takes is a corny joke or a hug or a conversation about golf or baseball to really make him light up. My grandmother drives him crazy - she drives everyone crazy - but he never mentions it or shows it. He loves her. Today I saw a small light in his eye when he made a silly comment as he cleared our dishes from the table and I wondered what Donald Eugene must have looked like when my grandmother married him. A small, skinny kid with dark hair and blue eyes and an easy smile.

I guess, when all is said and done, he is selfless in his own way. His "self" is his job at the golf course, his love of baseball, and his family. There are a lot of days that he doesn't feel well. He worries when that happens. But I don't think a day goes by that he is not really content. I think maybe that's what we're all trying to find.