abuelito

so tonight i joined my mom for her weekly dinner with my abuelito. Dinner with my grandpa is always kind of interesting in that "talking to old people and getting wisdom from them" way. My grandpa always has this look of apathy and general boredom but as it turns out he's just kind of a quiet man of few words who prefers to observe. This is rather odd since he spawned five very loud women who spawned lots of loud brown children. But as my grandmother used to love to point out, we all had more of her blood than his. She was kind of a cruel woman.

Anyways he's 76 and his daily habits consist of waking up around 9, showering, grabbing some beers and a cooler and sitting outside in a lawn chair gardening, drinking beer and listening to old spanish love songs. Sometimes he'll drive ot my house or one of my other aunts' houses to do their gardens. Then he goes inside, grabs another beer, and watches old movies. he loves to sit in his chair and watch gladiator over and over again. he also really loves clint eastwood movies but his favorite actor is Steve McQueen. Anyways the man drinks like a fish but has never been sick. i asked him once how it is that he never ever gets sick. he told me "hija, es que no voy al doctor." Basically he doesnt' believe in doctors, because he thinks they jsut make up diseases and they make you take drugs that you don't need. This is in stark contrast to my constant state of hypochondria. Apparently in addition to the loudness, we also got the crazies from my grandma's side of the family.

I asked him what he eats to stay so healthy and he said he usually boils an egg in the morning, has a peice of cheese and an apple. And then he said he doesnt' eat until dinner in which he makes chicken soup or other chicken dishes. so essentially he stays away from sweets, breads, red meats and anything with taste. And look! he has lived to be 76 without ever getting sick, he still has his mental capacities all intact, and the only real problem is that he drinks alot. i guess we truly can learn from the old. Sometimes i ask him to tell me stories of the old days, his time as an immigrant worker in american before the influx of illegals. Someday i'll share those stories, interesting stuff. Lots of cool shit like his dad essentially kidnaped, raped, and forced his mother to marry him and moved her to his hacienda out in the middle of nowhere. shit like that. you do'nt get stories like that anymore!