Another man in my life

My friend Ian took all the pictures you'll see here today. I am so pleased he took them as I get such joy looking at them.

As I led you to believe in the title of this blog, there's another man in my life. His name is Al and he's my doll baby. I fell in love with this man the very first time I met him. It was a Friday night at bunco. If you're not familiar with bunco, it's a game with dice. You need no skill whatsoever to play it. It's just a fun evening out. Apparently you don't need sight either as Al is blind as a bat. I believe macular degeneration is the demon. He rolls the dice like he can see the spots. He can't even see the dice! We all count out loud in this game and he knows to quit rolling when we quit counting! Such a cutie! That very first night he sat down at my table about half way through the evening and I was smitten. He was only 92 then. He was sharp as a tack and very quick witted. I love a man with a sharp brain and a good sense of humor. Al has both. He was making quip after quip and melting my heart the whole time. The clincher came when he said something particularly clever, and of course, a bit off color. I took his hands in mine and said 'Al, you are very bad.' I noticed how cold his hands were. I said 'Oh Al, your hands are like ice!'. He turned toward me, pulled my hand to his heart and said 'Well you know.' That was it....'well you know.' I did know and I was putty in his hands from that moment on! He reminds me so much of my Daddy. Dad had such a wonderful sense of humor and we'd tease and laugh. My Daddy also always used to say 'cold hands, warm heart.'. So, when Al said 'you know', I did indeed know!

This is my doll baby Al.

These pictures were taken at a bluegrass jamboree in our rec hall here at the park. As you can see, Al can still get jiggy with it. He's 95 now by the way. You may notice a walker in the corner of the picture. Oh, it's Al's. He was out for his daily walk. Yes, that's right, his daily walk, alone mind you! He uses his white cane to feel the edge of the road so he knows where to walk. Someone had trimmed palm trees and left them to be picked up, but alas, left them sticking out into the road. All tripped over them and crashed to the pavement. Thank God someone saw him go down and ran to help. They got him to his feet. He insisted he was fine and walked home!!! When his wife got home he told her about his mishap and said he was a bit sore. She insisted they go to the hospital. He'd shattered his kneecap and broke some pins loose from his leg. Remember, he walked home after his fall! Tough old codger! He was in a leg brace and had that walker for a few months. He's without both now. Said he never had any pain at all and is good as new.

This is Rose, his lovely wife. She's in her 90's too I believe. I hope the heck I can look as good as her when I'm 90!!! I just pretend to like her to get close to her man! One time Al told me he hadn't seen her face in 10 years. I told him he had the most beautiful woman in the park. He smiled. You do need to watch her though. She thinks Al is a trial at times as she has to do everything for him. Remember he can't see. He came to bunco one night alone. Rose just dropped him off which was very unusual. Oh my dear I wish I'd had a camera that night! He had little short red and black plaid shorts on with brown socks and tennis shoes. He had a pale blue polo shirt on with one pink sleeve and one yellow sleeve. His jacket was lime green I think. I went over to him and took his hand and said 'Oh Al, Rose must be very angry at you!'. He said 'Oh shit, has she dressed me funny again???'. I thought I'd die laughing. Yes, I informed him, she had dressed him very funny. He let out a big sigh and said 'Well, I probably deserved it.' God love him.

When Al talks, I listen. You never know what will come out of his mouth. I want to know a lot more about his life. I stop by now every time I see him out in his drive. He sits out in the sun in a chair. Just like my Daddy did! I learned last time that he didn't marry Rose until he was 42 years old! He was in the merchant marines. Their only son died last year. That's a horrid thing to outlive your child.

The cool part of our relationship is that when I talk, Al listens!

This was taken right after I'd given my man a kiss. Ian let that be private! OK, so really he just hadn't focused fast enough! I could have photo shopped his eyes, but it's part of what I love about him. He's officially the oldest person in the park now. His birthday is June 17. He'll have a card from me to open for sure!!

Thank you so much Ian for these pictures. I will treasure them always!