All of My Great Loves

Honey Baby You Were Always On My Mind

Grandma was the best of the best. Or maybe Auntie Gail was or maybe mom or maybe each of my three elder sisters. I cannot count out my first and current wife. But this is not about them. I reckon I got ten fingers and the same amount of toes. Do not ask me to count on them for the wonderful women in my heart.

Heck and by golly that is about enough to count my loves. There are real fancy ones and some that sat under a willow tree with me sucking on straw weeds. Just yesterday I was figuring that all of them are better without me. My goodness the good hearts in my life. My love will not and never has waited.

Now around here a man is a dog if he kisses and tells. But you fine fine gals know who you are. Let it be in the pine boughs next to a fire. Oh for sure in the heat next to the creek. Do not forget my green truck and holding hands near Hart’s prairie. I just cannot remember all of it but it is so much in my heart. Maybe on a ski hill or at a sock hop. Riding a horse together lights fires maybe best left doused.

Cowboy and disco dancing was just a prelude to hugging. Ladies are beyond me. No not that I do not understand them. Not at all. They are just so far up that this earth bound creature cannot hold on to them. They are above me, or I just got no interest. I have never found a gal I liked that was not an angel. Maybe I do not like women. I just love angels. Now that takes a bit of good thought.

Now do not think for one second that you are not included. You tease me and make me swoon. I just do loving. Easy does it, many can testify that that is not about some act of sex. I just have always loved looking into eyes and holding hands. I am sorry for those fine girls that I just held hands with when they wanted more. I never did understand that. Just a boy who did not actually get it. I was a bad boy but I rode a horse that did not require consummation. Now that is crazy.

It could be said very true that I do not have a clue. Talk to a wise man for what is true. I sit and go on and on about thing. But to the table or smart there is no food I bring. I stumble and fall and cannot stand by anyone. I have lived a full and good life already done. Yesterday has come and gone for me. Don’t worry is all I can be. Let them have all the issues in this world. I only remember that gal who twisted and twirled. My life is not good and never will be. Due to the fine ladies who helped me see. Love is life and we all must deal with strife. We will never ever forget the loves we have had. Even when we were just a foolish lad. They stand with me on my bad soul because love one another is our goal.

Hug yours and forget about mine. Do it and do it now. Even just on a phone call and hug. Tomorrow will come I think but loving is forever the finest drink.

Peace be upon me. Funny isn’t that. But if I got no peace how can I give it to you? I have to love myself to love you. I apologize to all whose lives I touched when I did not love me. How rude and selfish that is. There is not a single person in my life that has not made it better. And by that made the lives of those I touch a bit better. Of course we do not do perfect – how boring that would be. I can only do Eric. I do not have warts but I have a smashed nose and Sunday near busted a hip on a soccer slide. Bring it on! We are not required to do well we are required to do love. I never raised a child. I just loved all seven of them. Though some are blood not one is “mine”.

The fine girls I love are just that. I hope that by my actions I never left them more than fine. Alright my mom never did do fine. She was tough as nails with me.

So let us delve into daughters. Wow that is a tough one. A big old burly man with advanced degrees and wives is supposed to know how to talk to a 20 year old daughter? Sorry but getting that right is just a crap shoot. There is no room for demands and telling what is. And yet no room for error.

Now I can talk metaphysics to empiricism to the Bible to the Dharma. But I learned early on with my wives and daughters to shut up and listen and hug and hold hands. OK explaining how birds eat bees is cool but only for about 99 seconds. Females are different than males. I like that. My ladies teach me more from their rants than I could ever learn from a book. Now if life gets better than staying quiet and holding your daughter’s hand you have to be fully nuts to think that.

The women in my life. Nope they are not “in” my life, they are my life.

Ice skating. Mom would pull me out of school. I did not get hockey skates until much later. Mom taught me how to ice dance with full aplomb. Perhaps the best lessons of my life. It was not until 6^th grade I had a male teacher in school. I think – Tinsley, Graham, Clark, Brigham, Delagowski, probably wrong but you get the point. Fine women who taught everything about life. I would never be a man without women.

I am so pleased my son has lady teachers. I want nurture and they do. Tough is called for and no man can be as tough as a women. Get over it.

I wonder.

Will a lady ever really know me?

Probably not. I take off in my head. I like doing smash basketball with my son. I hike and sleep in dirt. I like to fight, gently now, and I like to travel to crazy places. Diving twenty feet is just fun and skiing at 10 thousand feet is a norm. I busted a board with my fist teaching my youngest how to think through the object. I have male issues. But my bride loves me anyway. Probably better you do like her and look the other way. My hip and right hand still hurt ;-) My first wife told me “stop pleasing me and be a man”. We laughed but the point clear.

Let men be men and women be women. We are so blessed.