So this afternoon my son 11 and daughter 9 were riding their bikes to the store. I get a phone call saying some old man was yelling and cursing at them. And my son proceeded to flip him the bird and then called me. He tells me he drove off so I didn't jump in the car just then.
Later this evening on our way to have dinner I decided to stop by the mans house and figure out what the misunderstanding was. Fully ready to drag this guy out in the street and beat the tar out of him. What I found instantly changed my mind. An 82 year old man with a hell of a stout hand shake and stage 1 Alzheimer's. I spoke with him for a few minutes and then called my son out of the car. Convinced this gentle old man didn't have an angry bone in his body. And find it was just him talking on the phone with his wife and my son thought he was talking to him. We apologized and shook hands.
As we were leaving he mentions he started playing pool when he was about my sons age 11. I responded with I play a pretty strong game myself. He proceeds to invite us into his home to show us something. In his garage are 100's of beautiful paintings and under a sheet and blank canvas is about a 30 year old 9' Brunswick gold crown. He tells us stories of growing up in the Midwest near Omaha. He then says he used to rub shoulders with many old timers like Willie Hoppie, Irvine Crane, and rattled off a few others. Said he used to teach pool and was on the payroll at a couple different pool halls as an instructor.
I was talking to my wife about the stories this old man was telling me at dinner. And then I came up with an idea. I'm planning on speaking with this gentleman's wife and asking if it would be ok to drag him along with me to the pool hall if he's up for it. having a grandfather with this disorder I understand what they are gong thru. Figure it might help him stay sharp and let him do something he loves.
The guys name is Ted Valdez
