Will Fischer
I loved taking Pop to church and back when he lived at my Uncle David’s & Aunt Barbara’s house. One time he told me he knew of a “short cut” home. He and I were talking and laughing about memories and old stories. I lost tract of where I was going to and the time, as we were being guided to Mandeville by a man with half a decade of developed dementia. The laughs from the stories were great and the feeling of bliss was paramount between us.
A sign rudely punctured our moment of camaraderie when it said,“Mississippi.” I snapped out of listening to Pop and remarked to him ,”Pop! We’re almost to Mississippi!” He had a look of a confused and disappointed realization that something wasn’t right, but was okay. That look transformed into the verbal “huh” Pop would often say to conclude a new fact he had learned. Like an old man whose hand was caught in the cookie jar but forgot that the cookie jar was a box of Golden Grahams, but remembered that he liked Golden Grahams too, so everything was dandy. He wasn’t driving, and Mississippi was time away from the usual.
I turned the car around and drove back to Mandeville before I was stuck on a bridge with no exits. When we showed up back to the house, I told my Uncle David what took so long. That’s where he reinforced the “don’t take the shortcuts” rule of taking Pop to church.
We really did have a great time talking in that car and had I not enjoyed the time with him, I would have caught on to the near interstate detour beforehand. It was an unscripted moment of joy I can reminisce on when a smile is needed.
