Friday, June 5, 2015

Missing your whistle Les

They say those who pass away into the Spirit world are  15 degrees in Spirit from this physical reality. Sometimes I so agree.Today and for a few days now I've been missing my brother in law Leslie.
No one on the face of the earth could make me laugh harder than he could.He had developed on the spot impersonations of a few people.he and Bernard steeves got us into a lot of trouble with snotty teachers in grade school at times.He was the defender of a lot of ids too, some teachers back then were violent towards us, not when he was around.Les had spunk!Les had a handsome face, deep character in his brown eyes, curly dark brown hair, stout figure, and happy lights in his smile,every girl I ever knew said him, handsome. He loved to make fun and enjoy the beautiful and the silly side of life. Easy going in temperament .He was a soft kind of guy with a veneer finish. Looked tough, engaged in all the guy stuff sports, cars, three wheelers, skidoo, and smoked a little hooch once in awhile. Loved his life his wife and his kid. I think he was 30 degrees from being a Rednick.He was far to intelligent to make fun of, but he loved to make fun of things.
I met him at age 12 we both showed up at the same pond to go skating .So we sat and talked for a bit.He walked me home and and six years later married my sweet sister.
He had a real love for nature, dogs and cats. One year I moved in with them for a few months. It was Christmas eve.We had had a few drinks and headed off to bed. Around 12 midnight I heard SMASH!!! the tree fell down. Most people would be having a time of it with all that in the middle of the night.Les comes out to the hall,and says "ITs only the tree", "Well take care of it in the morning".
I always felt that GOD was in his heaven around Les, he had a way of being kind of reassuring in his manners and his walk and his nonchalant approach to life.. You knew when he was coming in the house or was around the yard, he subconsciously whistled while he moved along where ever he was going at times.Sometimes he would be working out in the yard for hours with dad on an old car .Dad thought the world of Leslie.He was loved by us all very very much.
One day mom put the garbage out in the back porch for Les to pick up on his way to the dump. WE lived in the country and this was back in the day of no garbage pickup.Well she had also set her bags of laundry out there to go later into town to dry it all. So seven garbage bags sat in the back porch.Mom went up stairs to make ready, she heard Les come in the drive heard the back door.Figured he was on his way to dump the garbage. An hour later or so she goes out to the porch. YEP!!! You guessed it!! He took off with all her laundry and it went down over the 12 foot embankment at the dump!!! Clothes curtains towels and sheets. Not a white sock in the house.Ida never let the man outlive the telling of this story. Ha!!
When my husband Fred came home after being placed in a wheel chair from after the  car accident he was in, Les threw him up over his shoulders and up the stairs they went, no question about it Fred was going to fit in just fine, with all of us, and Les was here to help this process along. Its not easy going into a wheelchair at age 36,Leslie made this transition so much the better for Fred. They were like brothers. We visited them often.Not many places Fred felt comfortable like he did with Leslie.
Les had a few jobs really great ones but he liked being his own boss best. He liked to work and worked hard but he liked his own scheduled and his own pay day. He never asked for a handout but he never put more in the political coffers than he had to.
Leslie loved to drive and would never let me drive his old truck. One night after a few drinks he played it safe and gave his keys to a friend to drive it was his last. He was killed instantly in St.Margate Bay, Nova Scotia. He was on his way with my sister to my house the next day. He never made it. We still miss your whistle old boy.