Righteous Anger

You should never, ever, raise your voice to your elders. I firmly believe that. Well, except for the obvious stuff, yes. Screaming "Watch out!" when there's immanent danger is of course encouraged. But you do not raise your voice to your elders.

I yelled at me Grandpa Joe, um, a few times. Not that much, but it happened. Lord knows that it was only the supreme force of will which kept it from happening more often.

But the thing is, he didn't care. He was upset and that made you upset, and now you're both ornery. Yet he'd forget about it, getting beyond the moment with remarkable and inexplicable speed. He didn't see why you couldn't either. We'd each just yell at one another, finish the immediate project with subdued intensity, and he'd say "Let's get that coffee" and he was beyond it. Joe kinda figured you should be too.

There's something to be said for that. To be sure, that old man could have used a longer fuse. Yet what was over was over. We got mad at one another, it was done, that was it. Full stop.

What you had to get with Joe was that, he was Joe. A personality so unique that it came with its own aura. But if you could just accept that aura, he'd be all right by you and you'd be all right by him. And you would end up having a lot of good times together.

I suppose I should hold this blog a few days, seeing as he has a birthday coming up August 29. That might be a good thing to do. But why should I be constrained by the calendar? It'd never hold Joe back. So I can't let it hold me back either.