26 February 2007

Bachman here!

My grandfather retired from the Air Force at the highest non-commissioned rank and then began a history of complicated hobbies: art collection, baking, needlepoint, genealogy, computer-virus quarantining, hypochondria, etc. Pa (as my sister and I call him) has a wonderful mind, but it comes with a terrific talent for recalling specific details that may or may not be correct. (My mother, therefore, is her father's daughter.)

This is where our story begins.

My Aunt Vicki, who is her father's keeper, took Pa to a new doctor Friday. As they discussed his medical history, the doctor asked if Pa had experienced any significant weight changes over the past few years.

"Oh, gad, yes," he said. "Few years ago, lost 140 pounds."

Vicki showed her astonishment with wide eyes, so Pa reconsidered his number: "100. 80? Don't you remember, you all said I looked gaunt." He stroked his cheeks to demonstrate the location of the gauntness but submitted to Vicki's revision of the number.

Egad! do we love Pa.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bachman? I don't get it...are you talking about the entity-relationship model? You're just too smart for me :) BTW, we need some new pics of little baby Noel, oh wait, he was left out in the cold, right?!

Jen said...

"Bachman" is his last name, and he frequently refers to himself in third-person exactly that way. When my mom and aunt worked at the same office, he would call for them and say, "Bachman here calling for Nancy." One receptionist assumed his first name was actually Bachman, which indeed only made sense.

I don't know nothin bout this entity-relationship business, though. That's too smart for me :)

Will do on the Noel pics soon. . . .

Anonymous said...

Ohhhhh, makes sense now! I didn't know nothin' bout the entity- blah blah, blah either until I googled it :)
Are those Noel's precious little baby feet? I could just nibble those little things...I have quite an affection for baby feet.

Lauren said...

Jen's got some new feet on her blog! I love baby feet too- yum!

Jen said...

Still is blah to me. . . .

But yes, those are Noel's toes. Gosh, I love 'em. It's really true, this "I could just eat you up" cliche. At the very least, I thought these might be a cleanly improvement over the last set of feet.

rachel hood said...

definitely an improvement...we love baby feet....we will have eight soon!...4 weeks and counting

Shannon said...

I love that Pa took up needlepoint. Doesn't really fit with the whole Air Force persona, but it's fun, and unique, which is sounds like Pa truly is.

We too love baby feet! Our favorite sono pic of Katie was one of her feet. Soooo sweet. 8 baby feet! Rach, you are a woman to be praised!!

Jen said...

Oh, Pa is definitely unique--and quite talented in the realm of needlepoint especially. Made beautiful Christmas stockings for us, and a series of Winnie the Pooh wall hangings, and a King Tut head thing that my aunt has, and a rabbit hanging for my mom, and various other bits too.

In other news, yea for two more Hood feet! I can hardly imagine having more than the two we've got. My oh my.

Lin said...

hooray for the new, clean, sweet baby feet!

M.R. said...

I haven't heard so much praise of feet since Isaiah 52. Enough.

Lin said...

a poem for arthur:

left foot, left foot,
right foot, right,
feet in the day,
feet in the night.

wet feet, dry feet,
low feet, high feet.

in the house & on the street,
how many different feet you meet!

M.R. said...

Thank you so much, "lin." And may I present to you a conversation from one of my favortie movies, "Out of Africa"--a conversation that your new poem obviously speaks to.

Denys: Did you know that in all of literature... there's no poem celebrating the foot. There's lips, eyes, hands, face, hair, breasts, legs, arms,
even the knees. But not one verse
for the poor foot. Why do you think that is?

Barkley: Priorities, I suppose.

Baroness: Did you think you would make one?

Denys: Problem is there's nothing to rhyme it with.

Baroness: Put.

Denys: It's not a noun.

Baroness: Doesn't matter. Along he came and he did put...upon my farm his clumsy foot.

:)

Lauren said...

That last comment compels me to ask you, Jen: Have I ever told you you're my smartest friend? Of course you are. Who else is there, really? I can't think of anyone else who would possibly...wait. Nope. No one else. It's you. You're my smartest friend.

M.R. said...

DANG IT!

Jen said...

Ha! Now, where is this list? Surely Arthur made an appearance as "Baseballingest friend" or some such thing?