Randy and Mamow

The majority of the times that I took Randy to see my parents, it always seemed hot and humid outside. Dad would sit out in his garage in the summer time just to be out of the house, so that’s where most of our visits with him ended up. The problem with that was Dad’s garage can get pretty toasty in the summer, and as I’ve said in previous posts, Randy was NOT a fan of heat lol. So while Dad and I would sit outside in the garage and play guitars or have a beer, Randy would go in the house to cool off…

And an interesting thing happened….

Randy and Mamow (my mom) developed a relationship. And it was a close one. Where Dad and I would sometimes get tired of hearing his corny jokes, my mom would bring him inside and listen to him for hours. They would talk about his girl friend, bowling, jokes (obviously lol), and whatever else Randy wanted to talk about. Mamow was patient, where Dad and I sometimes weren’t. And she would listen to him talk for as long as he wanted to. Plus, she would feed him lol. Randy was a big fan of food and Mamow always made sure he left the table with a full belly. Mamow would also come and visit him while he bowled on Saturdays. She would make a special trip down to his end of the bowling alley, just to say hi.

They formed a bond that I never fully got to appreciate because it mostly happened with me outside and Randy inside with her. But that’s ok. The bond they had was one that was special and just between them. No one else but Randy and Mamow will ever know how close they got during those hot summer days. I don’t know if anyone is more hurt by Randy being gone (besides Jen and I) than Mamow is. She thinks of him often, and his absence makes her cry in a way I’m not used to seeing out of my mom. Randy took a piece of her with him when he left…

PS- “Mamow” was Randy’s failed attempt at calling her “Momow”, which is what we called my grandmother, the beautiful Verda Thompson….more of that in another post….