My great-Aunts Elsie and Elzie were, at one time, the oldest living twins in the state of Missouri. They were 93, living in a care center here in town. Their husbands long dead, the old sisters once again shared a room as they had in their youth. Full of laughter, fun, wisdom, and stories of the old days, they were a joy to visit. My Pop went to see them at least twice a week, just to make sure they were doing alright, and more importantly, to keep them in the fold of our loving extended family.
My father was a huge man. He intimidated a lot of people simply by walking into the room. He didn't mean to, and he didn't like it. It bothered Daddy that people would think he was mean. He was far from mean. He was the gentlest man God ever put on this Earth.
One day, as Pop and I went to visit my great-aunts, there was an old woman sitting all alone in a row of chairs in the aisle. As we passed she grabbed my father's hand and asked, "Oh, honey! Did you come to see me?"
Pop looked down at this lonely old woman, smiled, and said "I sure did, hon. I've been wondering how you were?"
The old woman smiled from ear to ear as my Pop sat down next to her. She held his hand and talked about her children, how she missed seeing them, and how glad she was that Pop had taken the time to come visit.
I sat and listened, wondering where he knew this lady from. After they'd chatted for a half-hour of so, Pop asked me to run and tell my aunts that we would have to come back tomorrow. He had to go get ready for work. I was more than happy to go get my hugs from Elzie and Elsie. I told them where Pop was and they both smiled and said, "Bill always had a good heart."
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