Thursday, June 7, 2012

Paw Paw: The Man Behind The Legend

Last week, I went to Louisiana to visit my dad's family.   I love all of my family, but my Paw Paw (grandpa to you non-creole speaking peeps) always steals the show.  He is one of those "larger than life" personalities.  He kept his pompadour from the 50s.  When I was little and he still smoked, he kept his pack of cigarettes in a rolled up sleeve.  He still uses Royal Crown on his hair.  He has a tattoo of a naked woman on his forearm.  He says he spent more time in the brig for fighting than actually being a Marine.  He once broke my grandma out of a leper colony.  And under his vaguely racist exterior, he has a big heart.  Case in point:   He once went AWOL b/c he wanted to go home and visit his mom. 



So on this trip, I decided to write down some of Paw Paw's sayings for posterity and future reference.  I posted them on Facebook, but I've collected them here for easy access (there is also a bonus quote from Maw Maw):