Memories from friend James Bupp
Uncle Tom was entertaining:
I remember hearing stories from coop that were very entertaining and funny usually relating to how he overcame some adverse situation in a unique and humorous way….
Once after hearing the same story 3 or 4 times when he told it to different people, I questioned him on the actual facts…
I had noticed that what had happened and in what order had changed, and I wanted to know if his memory of it was faulty.
He explained that since I was with him for the whole day that for my benefit he was changing the story a little bit to keep it interesting for me. It did stay interesting because now I was paying attention to what he was editing or adding to the story….
Uncle Tom could be ornery:
Tom when stopping at a stop sign and there was someone there at the same time he would just sit and wait for the other person to go and then he would start to go, the other person would slam on the breaks and tom would then stop. then he would just sit there and wait until the other person started again and repeat the whole thing… depending on his mood at the time you could end up with both cars in the middle of the intersection… if the other person waved him through he would repeat the gesture.
and wait then start up when the other person did and stop again when they did…… “just a simple misunderstanding right?”
so they would wave him through again and he would smile and shrug his shoulders and wave them through. sometimes people would get so cautious that they would just sit in the car and wait for tom to go for a long time… or often they would start to laugh and wave him through …. starting the whole thing over….
Eventually tom would go through or let the other person go….
When the other person went through the intersection they would be looking sideways at Tom the whole time…. most people would not catch on that this was done on purpose…
But tom told me a story of one night a large beefy looking man got mad at him followed heim and pulled up beside him in the left lane turned on his inside light and and motioned tom to pull into the next parking lot. obviously looking for a fight…. tom then turned on his inside light smiled and waved at him…
after a few of these tom did pull into a parking lot…. drove twice around the outside of the lot and by the stores and then exited by the same driveway he came in…. Tom did this 4 or 5 times more before deciding to lose the guy at a red light…
Beginnings of a song from James:
ooooooo theres a hole in my soul
where that ol man used to be
I know he wasn’t old,
but he seemed old to me
two hundred years of wisdom
compassion and giving
(few verses here not sure what yet)
I know he must be upstairs
watchen us the (p) tv
surfen through the channels
just as fast (pause) as can be
gunna keep an eye on you and (P) on me
wants to be sure we’re living happy and free
oooooo theres a hole in my soul
whar that ol man used to stay
He was always willen
to come out (pause) and play
and ready to fight
any time of the day
to defend his family
in any way (extend out way)
ooooo it didn’t matter
if your right or if your wrong
only that it was
to him that you belonged
family and friends
made his life worth living
two hundred years of given
compassion and wisdom
(to be continued)
If I keep it generic enough it might
remind people of Tom like creatures
gone from their lives..
anyway it begs the age old question
in my words
its from the heart
but is it art… lol