paul

I have been buying glass at the same store for a long time.

It has been long enough that the owner and I are on first name basis as well as the assistant: Paul.

Paul and I have become friend in a limited way. He is not married now, but may have been in the past. That was never a matter of conversation. I do that he was the caretaker for his father who was in his mid 80’s.

Paul was very fond of his father. IT was easy to tell as we visited.

Full time job and being solo caretaker is a heavy load and Paul has carried it for a long time.

Today I went to the glass shop to pick up a hunk of glass.

HE was busy and frazzled, but we visited a few minutes.

I asked him how his father is doing, as I often do. “Dad died in August.”

Obviously I had not asked in a long while.

“You were very fond of your father,” I offered lamely.

Indeed he was and he said he did ok until he started thinking about it then he got real sad real fast. I apologized for bringing the subject up and patted him on the shoulder.

We will still be friends, though I won’t go into the glass shop too often, though now that I am retired and am finished with the church job I won’t be in there often.

I know he was sort of glad the pain was over, but he also misses his father terribly.

There is no end of grief in this world.