This is the obit my Dad wrote for my grandmother.
(Names changed to protect the guilty).
[Grandma], 92, of Princess Anne died Wednesday, March 22, 2006, at Manokin Manor.
[Grandma] was born May 13, 1913, in Houston, Texas, the third of four children of E.A. and Electa Roney Chappell. As a child, she moved with her family first to Savannah, Ga., and then to Phenix City, Ala. She graduated from Central High School in Phenix City and studied at Chase Conservatory of Music in Columbus, Ga.
Early in 1940, she met her future husband, [Grampa] of Princess Anne, while working in Columbus. [Grampa] was at the time in the Maryland National Guard and stationed at nearby Fort Benning. They married on August 28, 1940.
After her husband returned from World War II service in Europe, the couple settled briefly in Phenix City before moving with their two sons to the family farm near Princess Anne in 1947. Their third son was born in 1950.
[Grandma] was an accomplished seamstress, gardener and pianist, and was devoted to her family. She taught piano to children and adults for many years. When not teaching, [Grandma] enjoyed playing classical selections, especially Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” and Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”
After her husband’s death in November 2003, she lived at Lakeside Assisted Living in Salisbury before moving to Manokin Manor in early 2005.
[Grandma] is survived by her three sons, [Uncle Bill -- no, the other one] and his wife, [Aunt], of Princess Anne, [Dad] and his wife, [Mom], of Columbia, Md., and [Uncle Duke] of Princess Anne; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Greg hired a new driver.
He’s not going to last long.
Greg asked why I thought that. First, let me explain the new guy drives a Ford Explorer. It gets a whopping fifteen miles to the gallon.
The franchise’s delivery area, as I’ve explained before, isn’t a compact area of apartments, town-homes, and strip-malls. It’s larger than Baltimore City, boasts three gas stations, and four traffic lights. It’s made up of trailer trash, farms, bigger farms and McMansions.
I’m paid $1 in mileage per delivery. I make this much because Greg will give out mileage increases in lieu of pay raises. Newbies start at, I believe, seventy- or eighty- cents compensation.
Long story short, this new guy looks half-brain-dead already, but it’s probably not going to take him long to realize he’s pissing all his tip money right back into the gas tank. And once that lightbulb clicks, he’s gone.
**
Another reason I know he won’t last long?
Last night, I told him where he’d be going on his delivery. Like a good little boy, he checked the map and figured out where he was headed. Came back over, looked at the oven, looked at the boxes waiting for pizzas, then looked at the heat rack. “So … should I go now?”
“Well, sure …” I said. “But you’ll notice the pizza isn’t out of the oven yet so I don’t know what the point would be.”
He gave me this blank look. Not quite an Ogre-blank look, but close enough.
(Guess who I get to work with tonight? Greg’s drafted Ogre to drive Friday rush.)
In an attempt to clear up some bookshelf space — and to do something besides mope around my apartment today and tonight and tomorrow ad naseum — I am purging my ridiculously oversized DVD collection by about 100 titles that in some cases I haven’t watched since purchasing. I’m hoping to boost up my savings account a little, too.
It’s something I’ve been thinking of doing for the last few months, and, truthfully, I needed something to keep myself occupied today (besides slow ass work). So, in the spirit of ruthless capitalism, feel free (please!) to click here to see what I’ve got up on eBay — (I’ll be adding more items throughout the weekend).
Who knows. Maybe you’ll find something you’re interested in. (Free drop-off for Baltimore area bloggers).
