This week, I want to introduce you to William Henderson Underwood III...or as we affectionately call him in these parts, "Bud." Bud is my maternal grandfather. He lives just outside Knoxville Tennessee on the shore of Douglas Lake not far from the Smokey Mountains.
Bud is a 78 year old retired wannabe oil tycoon who enjoys driving his pontoon boat all over the lake, football (specifically Tennessee Volunteer football), telling far-fetched stories and...dancing. That's right I said...dancing. He is a dancing queen! And yes, he LOVES Abba! Is this what I have to look forward to with old age??? He and his wife Char attend a weekly dancing class with other retirees and they have become quite good...or, Char makes him look good. Tango, fox trot, samba, you name it. He is a huge fan of "Dancing with the Stars." And he does listen to Abba...I'm not kidding. He's already told me that when we come out next time, he is going to bring his Abba CD on the boat and blast it as we traverse the lake on his mighty pontoon boat. I told him I'm jumping ship! We try to go out there every summer or two. He and I have a similar characteristic in that we both love to talk about history, sports, politics, current events, religion, philosophy, etc...this is shorthand for "we are both walking encyclopedias of useless information." We have no problem with sitting out in his front porch overlooking the lake with the Smokies in the background and solving the world's problems.
Anyway, he's led an interesting life. He played baseball for the Univ. of Tennessee. Ran his own oil drilling company in New Mexico. Back before my parents met, he hired and later fired my dad. He led a double life (he had two families). Bred, trained and showed German Shepards. As kids, he would give me and my brothers pointers on how to talk to the ladies. He would flirt with the cashiers at grocery stores to give us examples.
We talk every Saturday morning. Today, he told me about his new car...a Kia...KIA??? The most gutless, lemon cars on the planet??? What was he thinking? I can just picture him roaming the woods of east Tennessee in his Kia, blasting "Dancing Queen." My father-in-law Craig was at least man enough to buy a loaded Chrysler 300. Then Bud goes and buys a 4 cylinder Kia. Disappointing...but hey, that's my grandpa!
Bud is a 78 year old retired wannabe oil tycoon who enjoys driving his pontoon boat all over the lake, football (specifically Tennessee Volunteer football), telling far-fetched stories and...dancing. That's right I said...dancing. He is a dancing queen! And yes, he LOVES Abba! Is this what I have to look forward to with old age??? He and his wife Char attend a weekly dancing class with other retirees and they have become quite good...or, Char makes him look good. Tango, fox trot, samba, you name it. He is a huge fan of "Dancing with the Stars." And he does listen to Abba...I'm not kidding. He's already told me that when we come out next time, he is going to bring his Abba CD on the boat and blast it as we traverse the lake on his mighty pontoon boat. I told him I'm jumping ship! We try to go out there every summer or two. He and I have a similar characteristic in that we both love to talk about history, sports, politics, current events, religion, philosophy, etc...this is shorthand for "we are both walking encyclopedias of useless information." We have no problem with sitting out in his front porch overlooking the lake with the Smokies in the background and solving the world's problems.
Anyway, he's led an interesting life. He played baseball for the Univ. of Tennessee. Ran his own oil drilling company in New Mexico. Back before my parents met, he hired and later fired my dad. He led a double life (he had two families). Bred, trained and showed German Shepards. As kids, he would give me and my brothers pointers on how to talk to the ladies. He would flirt with the cashiers at grocery stores to give us examples.
We talk every Saturday morning. Today, he told me about his new car...a Kia...KIA??? The most gutless, lemon cars on the planet??? What was he thinking? I can just picture him roaming the woods of east Tennessee in his Kia, blasting "Dancing Queen." My father-in-law Craig was at least man enough to buy a loaded Chrysler 300. Then Bud goes and buys a 4 cylinder Kia. Disappointing...but hey, that's my grandpa!
6 comments:
Love the grandpa, love the stories, love ABBA, love dancing queen. Love it, love it, love it.
If your grandpa ever wants to pen his memoirs, I'll be his ghost-writer!
Sounds like Tennessee is a great place to be. Tell Amy to not be sad, there will be plenty of time to take the blog back over in the future....and she can always jump in and make a small post here and there.
We're thinking about you Amy.
A double life???? Please expound. I'm fascinated!! I want to sit on the porch and shoot the H with this guy all summer! Please??
Whatever your later years have in store, I'm sure they will include sausage-on-a-stick, death metal, and maybe a speed boat.
I love Bud stories.
UMMM... Steffan, stop slacking off... we need more Stevo!!
I noticed your family photo is giving homage to the REAL UT with your hook 'em signs - eh, eh, eh
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