No Need to Ask

His name was Leon. He was not my grandfather but he stood in the place of one. My "real" grandfather on my mother's side died before I was born so Leon was the "new" grandfather.

He was a big man. He did not like me, or at least that was my childhood perception. Leon worked at Keesler Air Force Base doing something with airplanes. I did not really care but what I did care about was that when he came home he was always carrying a small black lunch box. He also seemed to have in his other hand a paper bag.

Somehow I thought that there might be something for me in that paper bag, but there never was. He simply came in from work, looked down at me with that look of anticipation on my face, and walked on by.

One day I finally said to him, "I know there is no need to ask, you don't have anything in that bag for me do you?" "No boy, you don't need anything," was his answer. After that day the conversation was reduced to a shorter sentence. I would say, "No need to ask." He would smile and nod.

On the other side of the Biloxi Bay bridge was my other "real" grandpa. I called him "Paw-Put." I did not need to ask anything of him. He would quietly take me to the laundry closet and show me where he hid the candy. He whispered, "Now don't tell the other kids. It's our secret."

There actually were a lot of "other kids...other grandchildren." I look back now and wonder if he told them the same line, but at the time it made me feel special. There was no need to ask, the hidden prize was always there.

Could it be that in some ways we never grow up? We are like children wondering if a "higher power" will be loving or noncaring.

We did not just "show up" in this life. We were crafted by unseen hands. It may be sometimes hidden in this cluttered life but love is folded between the laundry. There's no need to ask.
jody jsyemour@davidsonumc.org