Whisper Words of Wisdom, Let It Be...
Previously, Chapter 29: Irv Was a Prince, and I Was Married to His Beautiful Daughter...
The longer I worked with Irv, the more I respected him. He was honest, hardworking, and, being 25 and at a crossroads, the role model I desperately needed at that time in my life.
Becoming his apprentice provided me with a trade and Susan and me with a future, one we imagined with a house and a family. Susan wanted four children, and I constantly had to walk her back to three…
Recently, my son Dylan asked me if Irv told jokes. It was a weird question, and I had to take a moment to think about it.
No, Irv didn’t tell jokes. His life existed on a more serious philosophical plane, but his good nature made him a sitting target for those who did. Out of common courtesy, he laughed at every punchline, and he did it consistently. But he never told a joke of his own, at least not in front of me.
One time, on a job site, everyone was telling jokes, and of course I had to chime in.
“A newly married couple decided that every time they made love during their first year of marriage they’d drop a quarter in a glass jug they kept on their mantle… Then, during the second year, they decided to take one out every time they made love… It took ‘em five years to get the quarters back…”
Everybody laughed at the joke except Irv. Then he quietly made his way over to me, looked me in the eyes, and, in a somber tone, said, “It doesn’t have to be like that…”
I had to chuckle. My father-in-law’s sincerity was funnier than the actual joke. I immediately reminded him it was just a joke, but when the serious look on his face remained, I knew he wasn’t buying it. In keeping with the joke, I could’ve responded, “Not to worry, Irv, I’m banging the shit out of her every night!” But he wouldn’t have appreciated the humor, so I didn’t say anything. I just stared back at him in silence, knowing he was a good man and actually concerned.
When I got home that night, I told Susan about it, and she laughed, “Vin, please don’t tell jokes like that to my father!” She knew him better than anyone.
Irv and I continued working our asses off on job sites, and it was hard to outwork him. For a guy in his mid-sixties, he could bring it.
He was having a problem, and his local doctor wrote it off as hemorrhoids, but when it persisted, Irv went to an internist, where they discovered a tumor in his colon.
We talked about it on the way to our first job the following morning, and I put it in plumbing terms. “It’s just a bad section of pipe, Irv. Fortunately, you got lots of it, and they can remove the bad section and put you back together, and you’ll be good as new." Irv wasn’t convinced it would be that easy. Neither was I…
He and Gloria decided to take a short vacation before the surgery, and not being a licensed plumber, I couldn’t work alone. So I came in every day and cleaned the garage/shop, cut up and sorted the scrap copper and brass, and organized the van, which was a mess, the way Irv liked it. Working out of his van was always challenging to me, but he knew where everything was.
Susan and I were very concerned about Irv. Everyone in the family was. There was so much uncertainty…
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To be continued…