Sunday, June 2, 2013

Mr. Cellophane Celebrates




I can’t say for sure how it was for DeRay before we were married.
His brother, two years younger, was trouble and a scene-stealer;
while DeRay quietly hoed the weeds and milked the cow solo.
He can never remember a birthday party.
When he was baptized, someone came along and picked the kids up
off the street and took them to the church.
They were baptized in their swim suits.
No parents.
I know he got on the bus the morning after high school graduation
journeying to Salt Lake City to find a job to put himself through college.
I remember he went in the army without even telling his parents goodbye.
That's the story of my life, nobody notice I'm around, nobody
Not even my parents noticed me.
One day I went to school, and when I came home, they'd moved!
Our two oldest children were both born in May; the same month as DeRay.
By the time we celebrated both of their birthdays;
and usually were preparing for a camping trip
as soon as school let out, I’m afraid he didn’t get much attention.
We simply couldn’t face one more birthday cake.
One year, I’m ashamed to say, we completely forgot his birthday
until we left Bob Creek and went to Kanab where his family
wished him a Happy Birthday.
Cellophane
Mister cellophane
Should have been my name
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there!
He is so totally kind and considerate;
Gruff; as a cover-up;
He would do anything for anyone.
He has and does.
Did you hear me?
no you did'nt hear me.
From the first day of our marriage,
he looked after my widowed mother.
He towed a car to Canada for her son
who was on a mission there.
He drove her to that same son’s wedding
in Idaho a few years later.
He has chauffeured our family to Island Park
many times for family reunions;
to the Arizona Strip where Daddy ran sheep
and where none of us had ever been;
to Muddy Mission Country where our great grandparents
eked out a living under divine directive.
He built a family room in Mama’s basement
after Uncle Ed finished with his woodworking.
He took her for her cobalt treatments more times
than anyone else in the family.
When she planned to retire as Post Master;
he advised her to take sick leave
then retire, thus receiving full salary for a year.
He has lighted and heated the home of my sister
since her husband died;
bought and installed television options;
fixed leaky toilets and spear-headed the painting of her house.
He has loved every minute of it.
Right now, he has lost his zest for shopping
without his two widow customers
for whom he bargain shops.
Olive is temporarily in a convalescent home
and 92-year-old Sylvia went to Vegas for a few days--
not to gamble (she claims) but to see a niece.
Suppose you was a little cat
Residin' in a person's flat
Who fed you fish and scratched your ears?
You'd notice him
Cellophane
Mister cellophane
Should have been my name
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me
 walk right by me
And never know I'm there. . .
At the Pugh Reunion,
he cooks sour dough hot cakes and makes sour dough biscuits
for everyone, no matter how late they straggle in
or how many hours he has been standing on his sore feet.
Plantar fasciitis.
He has invited his family on the houseboat
and to condos;
yet when  his birthday comes around,
only the very closest remember.
I tell ya
Cellophane
Mister cellophane
Should have been my name
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there
Never even know I'm there
Even our own children have forgotten his birthday.
When our married son and his wife and daughter
were living in our basement,
they totally missed his birthday.
He doesn’t get a lot of adulation and thanks
for all his does for all of them.
They probably think he doesn’t want it.
So why does he call himself
The Cellophane Man?
And even without clucking like a hen
Everyone gets noticed, now and then,
Unless, of course, that personage should be
Invisible, inconsequential me!
Cellophane
Mister cellophane
Should have been my name
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there!
There is no place that is truer
than in the halls of the church;
and in our neighborhood.
(except for a couple of exceptions.)
A human being's made of more that air
With all that bulk , you're bound to see him there
Unless that human bein' next to you
Is unimpressive, undistinguished
You know who. . .
Should have been my name
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there.
Never even know I'm there.
Mister Cellophane Lyrics

Chicago The Musical

This year he turned 79.

He can’t forget that

both his dad and Uncle Robert

died at age 79.

**We were determined to celebrate**

(for a change.)

Lunch at a Thai Restaurant

 A matinee musical at Pioneer Memorial Theater
 A visit with Aunt Olive at Avalon
 Brooke and Elizabeth called and invited us to dinner at ElMatador
 Brent, Jan, and children called while we were at the restaurant.
 

  And last but not least, Marie Callender's Razzledazzle pie and TurkeyHill Homemade Vanilla ice cream compliments of Emily and Bob Smith, as well as carrot cake at home afterwards.
 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mr. Cellophane

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