They Called Him L.O.

Story ID:	121
Written by:	Darrell Lindsey (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Family History
Location:	Nacogdoches Texas United States
Year:	1964
Person:	mother

They Called Him L.O.

L.O. the boy grew up in the Depression era.
L.O. the man never forgot that.
He had a loving mother and a cold father--
in fact,his father loved cats
more than he did his kids.
L.O. the man never forgot that, either.

This dark-haired Vitalis and Old Spice man
was a hometown football legend,
a painter and carpenter by trade
who beat the demons of his alcoholism
by sweating and shaking them out
in his bedroom many years ago.

Yes, I was as sad as I'll ever be again
after I received a phone call
more than fifteen years ago
(from a complete stranger)
and learned that at age 66,
that brown-eyed man was gone.

You see, they called him L.O.--
but I called him Daddy.