Meeting Gladys

Gumpy was spending a few days at my Mom's while Ema was taking a much deserved weekend off.  It was about 17 months into his treatment for pancreatic cancer, so he was fairly weak and unable to do too much without assistance.  Since I had a flexible schedule, I decided to take a few hours off and get the old boy out of the apartment while Mom was at work.

We decided that going to the Original Pancake House for some fresh buckwheat pancakes and a cup of black coffee sounded like the ideal afternoon, so Gumpy hopped in the shower to get ready.  This tended to be a laborious chore since he was unsteady but he seemed to have a lot more energy than usual, so I just sat outside the door to make sure I was close if he fell.

Our late lunch was delicious as usual.  One topic of conversation was about this new woman I was dating.  He asked a few questions about her and I asked if he was feeling up to meeting her.  When he said sure, I was pretty excited.  After my divorce, I dated a little and no other woman met my grandparents because I just did not feel introductions were necessary.

We had only been dating a month and I knew there was something special about Gladys.  She is the most intelligent woman I had ever dated.  She was (and still is) well read, modest, well spoken, polite, beautiful and understood just how important Gumpy was in my life.  She had taken care of her mother before moving to Detroit for grad school, so she could relate to the way I felt about Gumpy's health.

When we got to the Starbucks, Gumpy was already a little tired.  The chemotherapy treatments really wore him down but he was determined to meet Gladys.  He was also not one for coffee shops, his idea of the perfect place for a cup of coffee was at Ken's Standard Station in Vermontville because the coffee was cheap and the conversation was decent.  I truly expected to just stay a few minutes, especially considering how busy and loud the place was that day.

What I witnessed was my grandfather giving a great performance.  He  worked hard to be entertaining.  He flirted a little, he complemented when appropriate and told a few good stories without hesitation.  He was completely himself despite being out of his element.

An hour later, we got back in the car and headed to Farmington Hills.  Gumpy was exhausted.  When I stated that we could have left earlier and he didn't have to work so hard, he said that he knew Gladys was special to me and he just wanted to help me.  I am still grateful he just wanted to help me!