THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEXT DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA!

Grandpa, let’s ride in the wagon. I guess that’s how a lot of it began. We walked and we talked. There isn’t much that we have not discussed, at least for the capabilities of a 3 year old. Look Grandpa, a rock! Look Grandpa, an acorn! Now, an acorn is anything from a pecan to a pine cone. Grandpas and Grandsons understand these things.

Look Grandpa, a digger thingie! Guess what that is? It’s a railroad spike. Everyone should know that. We travel along the same railroad I traveled with his mom Doña Duchess. It’s out of the wagon and acquiring the digger thingie to dig up a half sunken brick. There is very little we can’t do. We don’t play with red ants. We chase butterflies. We pick flowers right out of Doña Sanchette Grandma’s flower garden.

We finally arrive at the park. Don Andrew begins to swing. If there were 25 swings he would try them all. He does the little slides but that’s never enough. He must go down the slide of slides. Only shortly does he ride the merry-go-round. He’s already attuned to bigger and better things.

I remember a song that goes like this: Sittin’ in the morning sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evening comes. Watchin’ the ships come in, Then I watch ‘em roll away again. Yea! I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay watchin’ the time roll away. Ooh! I have a son who says this just has to be the most boring song of all time; seems like the dude hasn’t got much to do. But, we both love the song.

As Otis Redding sings on we see why he is there: he left Georgia to go to Firsco Bay because he got tired of trying to do what 10 people were telling him to do. 2000 miles he’s traveled just to be alone. Pretty drastic, wouldn’t you say? Some folks I know are a little more ingenious than that. Bill will be going fishing for a week on October 1. I really wouldn’t mind being there or Frisco Bay or San Diego on one of these hot West Texas afternoons. People have their way to figure out how to find a little peace and solitude a little closer to home than the song portrays. Perhaps they don’t sell as many records as O. R. does, but they are still ingenious.

I guess you’ve figured that I’ve found my own way of handling all that. I don’t like to be alone completely. In those days after he turned 3 I would pick Don Andrew up. Finally we went straight to the park. There were slides, swings, merry-go-rounds and everything else that should grab any kid’s attention. Guess what? We began a new era.

All that stuff to play on and Don Andrew looked over there on the ground and said, Look, Grandpa! A stick. About 50 sticks later and we file them all away in a safe place and go home. Of course, he had to take a tree stick with him. That’s a special kind of stick only Grandpas and Grandsons know about.

What did he do with those sticks while we were there? Well, he put one in each hand and began attacking trees, fences, and shrubs. If there had been a windmill there, it would have been in trouble. Thus was born Don Andrew, alias Don Quixote de la Mancha or vice versa.

Once he saw a cartoon to the effect, he was now Don Quixote and I was Sancho Panza. And that is not the end of the story. There are many adventures left to tell.

LITTLE DUCHESS GROWS UP, ETC.

Baseball was a family experience. Little Duchess began by being the batgirl on our Pee-Wee baseball team. She sat on Sancho Grandpa’s (To Don Andrew) knee a lot and sometimes even retrieved a bat. Mostly she played with the boys or the other batgirl. She got her coke at the end of the game and her trophy at the end of the season just like the boys.

At age 12 something shocking happened. Perhaps this befuddled laborer was not ready for this shocking occurrence. Perhaps he wasn’t really meant to understand everything but one day he made a discovery. Little Duchess wanted to play baseball, not girl’s softball, but baseball with the boys. And she did just that. She could hit with the boys—one night she got our only hit. She could field with the boys. Nothing could be hit past her. But, alas, she threw like a girl. I guess this befuddled old laborer couldn’t have everything. She held her own until mono wrecked her baseball career.

Little Duchess wasn’t so little anymore and she became quite feminine. She did play girls volleyball, was head cheerleader two years and feature twirler the last of those two years. She excelled academically.

And then, just about as quickly as she had arrived, she departed. It was of to university. Two of those years were spent here in Texas but, perhaps this befuddled old laborer cramped her style a little so she was ready to get on to bigger and better things. And, she did just that.

But, I really don’t think it was the cramping of style that drove her to the West Coast to attend Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. No, it was a guy. The Duchess had met her Duke. Now, this befuddled old laborer might suggest the Duke is one of the most brilliant men on the planet. The Duke proved his brilliance by marrying Little (now all grown up) Duchess, after, I might add most appropriately proposing to her on opening day at Dodger Stadium.

The Duke further demonstrated his superior intelligence by leaving that wasteland called the West Coast and moving to West, Texas. After a moderate length of time, together the duet decided to do the family thing. They did not talk that matter over with this befuddled old laborer, but that was all right too, and what could I expect since I had been watching from the sidelines now for about six years. After nine long months Don Andrew was born. From that point the entire world changed.

The somewhat befuddled laborer Sancho Grandpa and his faithful companion Doña Grandma were elated. As I write this we now have four of these new experiences called grandchildren. It’s a great day to be alive!

Don Andrew grew. At two I began to pick him up from his daycare. Unlike Little Duchess, his mother, he readily went to daycare but he was quite eager to see Sancho Grandpa when he arrived. He would run and fling himself at the befuddled old laborer. That began an altogether new adventure. To begin with he was Buzz. Don Andrew was almost obsessed with Buzz. He hasn’t changed a lot. So, he carried Buzz with him all the time—everywhere he went.

As he grew he never lost his attachment to Buzz but he graduated to Tarzan. This befuddled old laborer put a chain in the tree and Don Andrew did swing on that chain many, many times, busting his rear occasionally but never giving up. All of this would lead to bigger and better things that are yet to come.

THE LITTLE DUCHESS!

The Duchess is almost another story. With three children and this somewhat befuddled laborer Sancho Grandpa, Sanchette had to go to work to secure enough money to raise three children. It was very hard times. We sometimes had to take the weevils out of the beans to have something to eat. We ate the beans, by the way.

Sanchette had never been anything but a great wife, companion, and super mom. She wanted to stay home with little Duchess as she had with the boys, but it became impossible.

Little Duchess was almost totally defiant when it came to going to daycare. Wow! Crying, dragging, hanging on to your leg with all fours, she finally let go each day and stayed- under complete duress. This went on for weeks.

All of this only further befuddled the otherwise already befuddled laborer Sancho Grandpa (to Don Andrew). Sancho could hardly stand it. He developed an even more compassionate heart. So, every afternoon that the befuddling labor wasn’t so great, Sancho would go pick up Little Duchess early from daycare.

What happened on all these days? It began with a kiss and a hug and a trip to the Jiffy Stop Grocery for a Pushup, when we could scrape a few pennies together. We did this as often as we could and, as time progressed, we added a very, very important activity to our list of daily activities.

This new activity was an absolute inspiration for this poor befuddled laborer Sancho Grandpa (To Don Andrew). The little Duchess and I began to walk. We walked alongside the railroad track. We crossed the track and went into the pasture. We found 100’s of treasures. Some of these we had to bring home with us. A significant amount of these treasurers were hidden all over the place. But, we always marked the way to the hiding place with arrows made with rocks. What an ingenious idea Little Duchess had.

What was more important than everything else that has been said so far? Relationship! That’s right! That’s really what this little Libra is all about. It’s a very one-sided perspective of one simple, somewhat befuddled man named Sancho Grandpa (To Don Andrew) who developed some marvelous relationships with his children and is now developing those same relationships with his grandchildren.

It’s a great day to be alive!

THE BEGINNINGS!

You thought it all ended somewhat near where it all began, somewhere near La Mancha in central Spain. Not so! There are so many more stories; so many adventures. You can only imagine where this might lead.

I guess it all began years ago. There was this little girl named Duchess. Having enjoyed a marvelous relationship with two older sons, Duchess was quite a surprise. She was unplanned. This was not the beginning of Unplanned Parenthood, which is in no way related to Planned Parenthood. We couldn’t afford the two we had, but there’s another. But, you can’t send them back.

Of course, I didn’t want to send her back and I’ll be very honest about it all. I wanted a daughter so badly because when I was 17 years of age my mom had my third little sister. I’m quite surprised she is worth anything at all, but she is extremely successful with a wonderful little family.

My little sister could have been rotten-to-the-core since she was the apple of my eye and I had lots of friends. They too thought she was their little sister and we all played with her at 2 and 3 years of age. She went places with us. She was super-entertained and super-loved.

Perhaps that’s where this part of my adventure begins. That was 45 years ago. I guess I need to introduce myself in light of all this. I’m Sancho; just simple Sancho. I will never be anyone else. I’m the somewhat befuddled laborer Don Andrew got for a Grandpa.

And, who’s Don Andrew? You will find out in due time. This is a story about the Adventures of Don Andrew and his faithful squire Sancho Grandpa. That will come later and will continue since it is a marvelous adventure that is presently in progress, even though Don Andrew has moved from West, TX to East, TX.

There are several ways you can approach all this. I think to ignore it would be your loss. To criticize it is okay; that’s your privilege. I always have something to share and to check all this out and try to unravel it all will indeed be an adventure for you. Don’t forget, I’m just a befuddled laborer Don Andrew got for a Grandpa. I have lots of great stuff to share with you, but remember, it’s my perspective you will be receiving—just plain old Sancho Grandpa