I had a chat with Kristy on Twitter last night. She was in a rough place at the time and I tried to help take her mind of things for just a bit. While we were talking I told her I'd write a post today about the 3 people, dead or alive, that I'd like to have dinner with.
The first 2 people I'd like to have dinner with would be my grandparents.
I was the first grandchild, and the only grandchild for almost 7 years. During those years my summers were spent with grandparents. I'm not talking the typical one or two weeks away. I spent the entire summer months with them. My grandfather worked for an oil and gas company in south Texas and his job involved traveling to various places in the valley to check on producing wells as well as to help oversee new wells going in. I spent countless hours riding around the backroads of Texas with him meeting ranch owners were the wells were located, as well as the truck drivers who hauled the oil or water from the holding tanks, to the lunch counter ladies in all the small towns we passed through. Because I was the only grandchild I was spoiled by this man. I could ask for a soda at the local 7-11 and we'd be off to the store. I can't remember ever failing to return without the soda I wanted, along with cookies, and candy, and ice cream. I usually got a toy as well. My grandparents would let me sleep with them most of the time. This was so when my grandfather woke up in the middle of the night, he could wake me as well to go to the kitchen for a glass of milk and some oreo cookies or graham crackers. This was time always shared only by us. Where I shared my boyhood secrets with the most trusted person in my life. My grandmother may have been awake, but she never interrupted our bonding time. Instead, she taught me how to throw spaghetti noodles against the wall to "check if they were done". She taught me how to make jello. She taught me it was ok to eat spinach and green beans, even if I hated them. On the weekends our lunch always consisted of a sandwich and chips and grandmother would always make sure we had all the fixings for a proper sandwich. She played board games and card games with me. She let me Eskimo kiss her until her nose was permanently red from it. She would chase me with a fly swatter when she had to, but she always somehow failed to make contact. She bandaged my cuts and kissed my forehead. They both loved me. And I loved them. They're both long passed on, but I don't think a day goes by when I don't think of them. And that's why they are the first two people I'd like to have dinner with. Only this time, I'd set out the lunch fixings for us to eat as we sat around the kitchen table, catching up things. I'd make sure we had oreos and milk for dessert and I'd invite my grandmother to share in our little secrets.
The 3rd person I'd like the have dinner with would be my 15 year old self. I'd like to be able to teach him how to make better decisions. How to avoid trouble and bad influences. I'd like to explain to him how the world works from an adult perspective, rather than from the perspective of a teenage boy, wrapped up in girls and cars and wanting nothing more than to be out of the house. I'd tell him to slow down a bit. Listen more, and talk less. Save money. Be wary of those wonderful credit terms. Listen with your heart, but get your head involved when making decisions. Learn to play an instrument. And learn to relax.
So there you go. The 3 people I'd like to have dinner with.
