when he went...

... on his birthday to meet the daughters for lunch last month,  I am certain they would have been at the prearranged location: Cracker Barrel, his preferred destination. Where I can say without a moment's hesitation he would have ordered the "Uncle Herschel" breakfast for lunch. Three different meats plus eggs and biscuits. That is the Only Thing he orders when he walks in the door at Cracker Barrel.

Plus he will always be early. Making you think you are late, because he is sitting there drumming his fingers on the table top, waiting, with a questioning expression on his countenance when you arrive. Not specifically giving the 'stink eye', just a sense of  'what took you so long?' or 'why did you not leave home thirty minutes sooner like I did?' This Man is always early.

Always! The same one who would get dressed on a Sunday morning, back in the era when everyone wore suits and ties to church, and go sit in the car and wait for me and two children to 'Hurry up! Come on! Get out here!' While I was trying to brush hair, find shoes, tie bows, wipe faces for both of them, plus get me ready. He is sitting in the driveway with the motor running, scowling in frustration at our failure. Forcing him to wait instead of being the first one to arrive and unlock the doors.

So he would have been sitting there at the assigned table, awaiting their arrival. Expecting one daughter, but not the second. I can picture the expression on his face, when they walked in the seating area, and there were two of them. The look of wide-eyed surprise he always makes when something unexpected happens. Amazed at the sight, marveling in wonder. Delighted to see both of them, but especially the older one he might see once a year. What a pleasant surprise!


PS... Go back and read the first paragraph, about his devotion to the Uncle Hershel breakfast. And remember the blog I wrote about a family friend. The man who is a retired physician. When he would be on call at the local ER and have to go in to work at 3 a.m., to tend to an orthopedic emergency - there would be gurneys lining the halls with rotund men, lying prone awaiting attention. They came in when awakened at 1:15 in the morning with urgent chest pains, thinking they were candidates for heart attacks. Unwilling to be proactive and do the things they could to be healthy, expecting medical professionals to magically produce a cure for a lifetime of bad habits and non-compliance. This family friend referred to the steady stream of overweight men in crisis as having a problem with 'biscuit poisoning'.