I am a man of few talents. Admittedly this is because I frittered away my youth on things of no consequence, but the hard fact remains. I was trained as a musician and was reasonably good at it, but I did not pursue that as my life's work, and I quickly lost most of the facility I had in that area. So I was left with words. I am not a prodigious talent with those, either, but perhaps I have had some small ability.
My wife is of German stock. That race is noted for their cold efficiency, and she fits the pattern, at least in the efficient part. Her good father was a man of large and varied talents. There was little to which he put his hand that he could not do - from music to electronics to woodwork, and beyond. I have been painfully aware over the years that, especially to a German lass, I did not compare very favorably with his considerable abilities. She assumed when she married me that I would pursue my Doctorate in music, but that did not pan out - and now I am an office clerk in a box plant. So, she was left with what I had, and all I had was words.
It is a poor man indeed who has only words. However, if I precede her in death, perhaps she will look back with fondness upon those words. Perhaps she will think, "He could not do much, but he could say a few things, and at least on occasion, he said them well."
2 comments:
Pappy, you have a lot more talent in many important areas that you give yourself credit for.
A
A man with words as eloquent as yours leaves all others out in the dust. As for doing things, well, you know how much I love a good hammer and drill so if you were prone to wanting to be out all day fixing things, we would have butted heads for room to work. I like you just the way you are.
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