Ode

My grandpa's name was Archie, but Mamaw always called him Ode. I don't know why. He wore spit shined shoes and man boots and always smelled good. He and my grandmother slept in separate rooms and in his night stand; he had a long metal spoon that he used to scratch his back. Sometimes I would sneak out of my bed and lie beside him, and if I was quiet and not too wiggly, he would let me scratch my back with it too. He had an old chifferobe that held his dressing accoutrements and I remember sitting inside it in the dark with his suits and shoe polish, smelling the scent that was him. His suit pockets held wintergreen Life Savers broken in half and Juicy Fruit torn neatly into. Half was all you got, no more no less. These pieces were passed out to all the kids at church who knew to ask for them.
He wore overalls at home and had pens of beagle dogs that he raised to hunt. We were not allowed in the dog pens at all. He also had goats and chickens and we were not allowed to mess with them either, but we did. He wasn't as strict with the goats as the dogs, and all of us grandkids had a run in with the big, mean, billy goat that ruled the herd. The goats were penned in by an electric fence and all of us had a run-in with that fence a time or two as well. Electric fences hurt.
His face and arms were a dark, reddish brown, a tell-tale sign of his Indian heritage. He had snow white hair and ate bacon and eggs that he cooked for himself every morning around five. His bacon still had the rind on it and sometimes, if I were lucky, there would be a piece left on the stove for me to eat.
The day he died was the first time that I lost anyone I loved and I found it so hard to take. Who he was seems to have blurred with the passing of time and I hate the fact that I don't remember him like I wish I could, but I think that he may have been a difficult man to understand. My favorite memory of him is this; he could peel an apple in one continuous motion without breaking the peel. He ate an apple every night before bed and we always fought for the apple skin. I don't know why, but it tasted so good. Laters.