I WAS THINKING

Now that #1 Son is married and has his own home, it got me thinking about those days gone by when I got my first house and faced the future.

It was quite an exhilarating feeling in taking ownership, the keys turned over to TLW (The Little Woman) and me, and the need to go immediately to it to set up housekeeping.

Once I got in the house, I looked around and being it was an old Tudor style cape, I faced the reality of the amount of work this ‘starter’ house had in store for me. Sobbing was doing no good, wringing my hands only hurt after a while, and whining left NO satisfaction. To make matters worse, Dad came over to inspect the premises and point out all that needed to be done.

Now Dad and I went back a long time. He could do a lot of handy-man work, and I had to be at his side constantly. I got to the point where family members would ask for me to come and do electrical work or carpentry, or plumbing and finishing for their homes. Dad liked to help people with problems who could not afford to hire people, and I came along for the rode. Needless to say, all that history helped me a lot to face my own issues with my new/old house.

Now Dad was inspecting and talking like it was his work that needed to be done, with my body. (God I loved him.)

He would take me to these jobs he got to make a little extra money and I came along all right. Usually these jobs were painting signs, like a billboard this new home builder wanted lettered and painted on the corner of Montauk Highway and Station Road, well that was done by Tony & Son, after hours in a few nights.

Then I got my own jobs doing signs, and soon I had this long sign that was about 4 feet high and about 40 feet long, with a green background and white lettering, with the menu painted on it. The luncheonette was located in Patchogue across from the old Safeway supermarket. Dad would go there for his coffee breaks and tell me what I should do next time. Dear old Dad!

But he could rally if TLW ever expressed a need for something, and he’d come running and roll up his sleeves while I was at work, because she asked. He loved TLW and was grateful she sacrificed her life to marry his only son, to give him some respectability. TLW gave him his coffee and great sandwiches and HE was happy as a clam, especially when it came to a paintbrush.

Then one day I moved to a newer house and decided I wanted to put up vinyl siding. The contractor came and started the job on a Friday, broke for the weekend and Dad didn’t know I was doing it. So I decided to have some fun with him. I got a carpenter’s apron filled with nails and a hammer decided to call my folks over for dinner.

I called and got Mom on the phone.

“Hi Mom, it’s me.”

“Who?”

“Your son, Joe? The moving target for a wooden spoon? Used to throw out the garbage a lot?”

“And?”

“Why don’t you come over for a Bar-b-q?”

The words may not have been out totally when they pulled up.”

There I was waiting for them in front of my house with my ‘props’ the apron on, holding the hammer when Dad approaches me and says: “WHAT are you doing?”

“Putting up siding?” He looks at me and presses the siding and says: “Too loose.” If dad was anything, he was going to make me a perfectionist, no matter how hard it was going to be, no matter how many mistakes he made trying.

Then one day Dad got old. It happened on a Tuesday I think, he was sitting there after retirement and Mom said the bathroom needed to be wallpapered. He called me. I arrived and he and I went into the bathroom. We decided that I would do all the technical work and he would assist. He stood there barking and I did all the hustling. But now I was winning the arguments and he was listening.  I had come a long way.