Elbridge Barrett 12/09/2009
 

I am reminded of my great friend and mentor Elbridge Barrett my grandfather. He was as strong as an ox, a wiry but kind man, and everybody just loved him, I mean everybody. In the south in the 70’s, racism was very clear and present, and people still assumed roles. Still, rich white folk in Galveston, Texas paid my grandfather well to maintain the exterior of their homes. From rich to poor, people would yell out loudly to my grandfather whether he was walkin’ by or driving the truck, "brother Barrett, how yew doin’?" and he’d always say, "yessa, just fine!" They all had a profound respect for him! He still remains in my heart one of the coolest men I’ve every known. He was popular, strong, dark, and could pop a muscle as shiny and hard as a bowling ball. He’d eat eggs, bacon, toast and coffee for breakfast, then light up the one cigar that would last all day. He was a mans man.

I used to work with him during his retirement years when I was a young teen. Summers I would go to work with him landscaping, professionally manicuring lawns in the broilin’ hot Texas sun. We’d wake up at 5:30, eat a hearty breakfast, pray, load the truck with all the gear, 3 mowers, lawn edgers and such, then go to "Seaside Plant Nursery" to get all the shrubberies, and orders for the day. At twelve years old, this was real mans work! But, my grampa said to me on the first day, "Work like a man, get paid like a man". And, after a full day of hot work in 1973 he put $47 US dollars in my hand. For a teen in early the 70’s, I was practically rich after my first day of work. What an encouragement! Now, I know that’s what he meant to do, but I’m still stoked about it 35 plus years later. Not everyday was such a cash payday, but it was close enough to keep the memory of those years sacred to me. I cashed in well from learning so much from him.

During lunch time we ate very simple food. He would stop by this shop and get a summer sausage. It was like a big salami that he would cut with his knife and place a slice on a square white cracker. I can taste it now, umm. We’d also carry a big metal jug full of ice that melted as the day went on, with three metal drinking cups.  Oh, the water in those cups was so very cold it would take your breath away. Elbridge Barrett would pour a cup and drink it down in no time, water dripping from the sides down his chest. He’d finish with a satisfying guttural growl "awghhhh, now that’s good water". It was an awesome sight every time I saw him drink from those cups, each time like an advertisement for cold water and it’s goodness. It still plays like that in my mind. Even in my son Hanan’s mind, the story of his great grampa Elbridge drinking cold water on a hot day was still an awesome visualization!

My grampa went to hang fulltime with Jesus at 84 years strong, but I still feel like he’s hangin’ out with me. What an utterley cool man, full of the spirit of God! The coolest thing is, so very many people have been impacted by him through me and don’t even known it. That’s a living legacy for you! I think I’ll go write the book now.

Stay tuned for more of "The Life And Times Of T’terman"


Blessing Boy©2007
 


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