Miss You Old Man

My Diddy died ten years ago today. I miss him. Whenever we used to call him old man, he'd always say "That's MISTER Old Man to you."

Well, Mister Old Man I still miss you but glad you're with Mama again. Tell her I miss her too.

It's hard to believe one tiny mosquito bite took you from us a decade ago but in hindsight all three of us siblings are glad it happened the way it did. You were so healthy before that and if the pesky mosquito hadn't rescued you from the beginnings of Alzheimer's no telling what life would have been like for you the last ten years. I hate to even imagine.

Like the hoarder I am I still have every diary and journal I ever penned. This entry was made less than a year after Mama died in 1977. I was seventeen years old.

"There's a man who holds my world together. He patches all my weak spots with love and smooths my rough spots with care. This man of love who makes my world goes by the name of Diddy. When the frightening reality of life haunts me, he stands by me bravely and when the agonizing pain of growing up hurts me too much, I know he is there. In my darkest moments he has open arms that wrap around me and in those precious moments no problem can touch me. He's who I turn to in times of despair, he's who I turn to with my deepest thoughts. When it seems there is no one I turn to see him waiting with  all the love in his heart. At times when even my best friend would laugh at my problems I know I can depend on him. He is the life and love of our home now and without him I have no home. No matter how old I grow or how far I go...I will always be his child and with him will be my home."

Sitting in the kitchen floor installing a dishwasher or sitting on the beach in a chair, he was and always will be "The Man."

I had the greatest parents in the world when I was young and it mattered the most.

 

 

He married his soul mate and thanks to his excellent choice for seventeen years I had the greatest Mama too.

He could be grumpy sometimes in his later years but loved us all unconditionally and we all loved him right back. If you  raised three Leach kids you deserved to be grumpy sometimes.

He Jitterbugged with me at my senior dance.

He lived and loved and we all loved him right back!

I miss both my parents but feel eternally grateful that I had them for as long as I did.

"Sometimes...not often enough, we reflect upon the good things. And my thoughts always center around those I love.
And I think about those people who mean so much  to me, and for so many years have made me so very happy.
And I count the times I have forgotten to say Thank You, and just how much I love them."

Simply said..."I love you Mister Old Man."

Til next  time...COTTON