The Tao Of Paul

I met my Father In Law 33 years ago. My sweetheart had told me that he was tough. “You know what tempers Puerto Ricans have”. I figure the guy is going to see me, kill me, and go back to whatever he was doing.
We pull in to the driveway and he’s under the hood of his pickup in the driveway.
“Dad, this is Paul” and she goes into the house leaving me there. Handshake, some minor small talk. Want a shot of hooch?” I politely decline, a bit more small talk, and he goes back to work on the truck. My wife played me for a rube. And I have found this to be a family trait.
A bit of a temper perhaps, but also a great sense of humor, a treasure trove of information, and a willingness to discuss any topic at the drop of a hat (political discourse gets heated though). I can’t tell you how much I have learned from him, or how many times he has made me laugh out loud.
Well the man who I swear regaled his relatives from Puerto Rico with polish jokes in Spanish while I was sitting there with a dumb grin on my face years ago had birthday 85 or 86 today, and has not slowed down one bit. We did the usual brunch at a local restaurant this morning and we’re up to 4 generations in attendance.
To the man I am proud to call Dad, Happy Birthday Jose.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.