Central air condition with proper insulation and revived wood citing would keep the house together and comfortable for another 20 years, he says. Still, my Grandpa is content with having window ac units that barely cool or heat the brittle weak wooden home. There are some improvements being made to the house. Recently, the house was properly leveled and the kitchen was given new flooring and restored cabinets. The house seems functional even though there are plenty of needs inside and out. The work will probably get done by someone in the family who wants to make my Grandpa's living situation a little better, but I really don't think my Grandpa cares about that stuff.
What does my Grandpa care about? He uses an old plastic "cool whip" container to put his homemade salsa in. I can't tell you how old that is, but there are pieces of duct tape on the cool whip container lid with dates written on it to show when a fresh batch of salsa was made. When the salsa is done, he rinses out the container and makes a new batch and sticks a new piece of dated duct tape below the old one. There must be five lines of dated duct tape on that lid. It's like he is a produce manager at a local grocery store keeping tabs on the amounts and expiration of a product.
My Grandpa's salsa used to spice up my Grandmothers cooking. My Grandma would make big meals for the family who visited and my Grandpa would share stories and his salsa at the dinner table. Grandma and Grandpa were a great team. Now, not as many guests come to the house since my Grandma passed away. When family does visit, they often bring food to accompany Grandpa's time-logged salsa and to hear revived story of his time in Chicago, San Antonio, or Michigan. The stories and salsa don't ever get old to me. Sometimes, a new image or detail is pulled out of an old story at the kitchen table. My Grandpa knows these stories are as good as his salsa.
One day, my Grandpa added another story to his repertoire (I'm sure he remembers the date and time of this event). Here's how it happened: my Grandpa goes to Mcdonalds and buys coffee and a biscuit under two bucks with a senior citizen discount every morning. This day, he was met at Mcdonalds by a book publisher who sat down with him and heard his stories one after another. I don't know all the details into how a book publisher came to sit with my Grandpa in a small town Mickey Dees, but I believe it happened. He told me that he has three good stories he wants people to hear. He also says, that his book had to have a good cover and title, so people would want to read it. Today, Grandpa turned 85 years old and he is inspired and inspiring others to write, to dream, and to have faith. Can't wait to hear the rest of his story and eat some more salsa. Happy birthday, Grandpa.
