Neil.
I have mostly early memories of him.
-The sour smell of tobacco on his clothing, and the dusty mannish odor that lingered on his flannel shirts...
-His leather cowboy boots that he always wore on all ocassions, topped off with a cowboy hat upon his balding wirey mane...completing the ensemble with a dirty pair of jeans, tied off with a large obnoxious buckle...
-The tickle of his red beard when I would hug him close on those not-frequent-enough visits...
-He would always call me "little darlin'" Or "hey Jenny", and chuckle, with short wheezing bursts of laughter, like a signature sound of an old mountain man.
-He was always grizzled, with facial hair covering his face, a jagged scar running down his chest from a quadrupal bipass and several other heart surgeries.
-when I stayed with them in the summer, I would wake up at five in the morning, to find him dressed, sitting alone at the coffee table in his trailer, the shadows of his face hidden by a spiraling trail of smoke coming from the end of his cigarette. I would sit and talk to him about little girl things until he would say, "darlin, why don't you go back to bed for a spell. Ol' grampa sits alone like this everyday. You need your sleep honey." I would protest, but eventually give in, crawling back into bed until the sun came up.
-His health was always bad.
-He was always so happy to see me.
-I loved him, Neil Harris.
-He passed away from pnuemonia on March 6, 2006.
-Im going to miss you granpa.
-The sour smell of tobacco on his clothing, and the dusty mannish odor that lingered on his flannel shirts...
-His leather cowboy boots that he always wore on all ocassions, topped off with a cowboy hat upon his balding wirey mane...completing the ensemble with a dirty pair of jeans, tied off with a large obnoxious buckle...
-The tickle of his red beard when I would hug him close on those not-frequent-enough visits...
-He would always call me "little darlin'" Or "hey Jenny", and chuckle, with short wheezing bursts of laughter, like a signature sound of an old mountain man.
-He was always grizzled, with facial hair covering his face, a jagged scar running down his chest from a quadrupal bipass and several other heart surgeries.
-when I stayed with them in the summer, I would wake up at five in the morning, to find him dressed, sitting alone at the coffee table in his trailer, the shadows of his face hidden by a spiraling trail of smoke coming from the end of his cigarette. I would sit and talk to him about little girl things until he would say, "darlin, why don't you go back to bed for a spell. Ol' grampa sits alone like this everyday. You need your sleep honey." I would protest, but eventually give in, crawling back into bed until the sun came up.
-His health was always bad.
-He was always so happy to see me.
-I loved him, Neil Harris.
-He passed away from pnuemonia on March 6, 2006.
-Im going to miss you granpa.