On Mail, Cigars, and Hot Dogs
I'm not sure if I've written about Joe's love of cigars before. If I have, please forgive me for the repetition.
Joe was a cigar smoker, but even more so, he was a cigar collector. When we moved into this house, I had plans to make the smallest bedroom into an office. I had planned out where the computer would go, where the futon would go, and had the color scheme in my head.
Joe had different plans. He envisioned the room to be a "cigar room." He would change out the closet, line it with cedar, put in slanting shelves, and a humidification unit. He would fill it with thousands of cigars, and put on a glass door with lighting. He pictured burgundy leather chairs, and a surround sound system for movies.
Guess whose vision came true. Yep, it wasn't mine.
Joe loved his cigar room, and spent countless hours taking care of his cigars. He took pride in his collection, and would show it off, along with the rest of the room, to visitors. When Joe died, I sold most of the cigars. I just didn't have the energy or the interest to take care of the cigars the way they needed to be cared for. I kept about 500 or so (which is a tiny portion of what he owned) and put them in humidors in the basement. Then I turned the cigar room into a playroom. (a post for a different day.)
Joe also loved the mail. In fact he was obsessed with the mail. When I would get home from work, he would call me and ask what was in the mail that day. Whatever I was doing I would have to stop, bring the mail in, and tell him what arrived. It was rather annoying, truth be told.
And of course his favorite pieces of mail were cigar catalogs. The arrival of the JR Cigars catalog in particular brought him great joy. He would pore over it for hours with the excitement of a little boy in a candy store.
Jacob has recently become obsessed with the mail. I'm not sure how or why it started, but he now wakes up asking about the mail, and then checks for it throughout the day. When the mail arrives, it is celebration time in our house. Jacob grabs the mail out of the box, and gleefully rips open the envelopes. He then spends hours obsessing over the mail he has received. It's rather odd, but quite cute.
Today there was a special piece of mail waiting for Jacob. It was the J.R. Cigar catalog. And Jacob was in heaven. He read the catalog from front to back, and got more and more excited with each page. When we went to the library for story hour, he insisted on bringing the catalog. When we met friends for dinner at a restaurant, the catalog came too.
The best part? He kept telling me to look at all the different hot dogs! He thought it was a hot dog catalog.
I'm sure Joe is proud just the same though.
-b
Joe was a cigar smoker, but even more so, he was a cigar collector. When we moved into this house, I had plans to make the smallest bedroom into an office. I had planned out where the computer would go, where the futon would go, and had the color scheme in my head.
Joe had different plans. He envisioned the room to be a "cigar room." He would change out the closet, line it with cedar, put in slanting shelves, and a humidification unit. He would fill it with thousands of cigars, and put on a glass door with lighting. He pictured burgundy leather chairs, and a surround sound system for movies.
Guess whose vision came true. Yep, it wasn't mine.
Joe loved his cigar room, and spent countless hours taking care of his cigars. He took pride in his collection, and would show it off, along with the rest of the room, to visitors. When Joe died, I sold most of the cigars. I just didn't have the energy or the interest to take care of the cigars the way they needed to be cared for. I kept about 500 or so (which is a tiny portion of what he owned) and put them in humidors in the basement. Then I turned the cigar room into a playroom. (a post for a different day.)
Joe also loved the mail. In fact he was obsessed with the mail. When I would get home from work, he would call me and ask what was in the mail that day. Whatever I was doing I would have to stop, bring the mail in, and tell him what arrived. It was rather annoying, truth be told.
And of course his favorite pieces of mail were cigar catalogs. The arrival of the JR Cigars catalog in particular brought him great joy. He would pore over it for hours with the excitement of a little boy in a candy store.
Jacob has recently become obsessed with the mail. I'm not sure how or why it started, but he now wakes up asking about the mail, and then checks for it throughout the day. When the mail arrives, it is celebration time in our house. Jacob grabs the mail out of the box, and gleefully rips open the envelopes. He then spends hours obsessing over the mail he has received. It's rather odd, but quite cute.
Today there was a special piece of mail waiting for Jacob. It was the J.R. Cigar catalog. And Jacob was in heaven. He read the catalog from front to back, and got more and more excited with each page. When we went to the library for story hour, he insisted on bringing the catalog. When we met friends for dinner at a restaurant, the catalog came too.
The best part? He kept telling me to look at all the different hot dogs! He thought it was a hot dog catalog.
I'm sure Joe is proud just the same though.
-b
19 comments:
LOL! He's a little Joe in so many ways: )
Great story! Thanks for sharing. :o)
I think this may be one of my fav posts. My husband has the same affinty towards wine and wants a wine room. The only difference being is that I have overruled that until the children are older, or we have a bigger home.
I love the mail too, except for the bills. Cayden would love to send Jacob some mail, it would be "interesting" to say the least. But, she also has a mail obsession about sending mail to everyone we know!
I also LOVE that Jacob loved the hot dog catalog. Don't you know that Joe is LOL and loving that!?!?
P.S. Our pool is broken, but I would love to invite you (& or Mel)up to our town beach if you are interested?
Krisri,
Would love to. Will have to see if we can find a time. Mel and I are back at school setting up now.
This reminds me of the chorus from the song, He Lives In You (Lion King musical).
He lives in you
He lives in me
He watches over
Everything we see
Into the water
Into the truth
In your reflection
He lives in you
Oh I love that!!!!
Do I know you? (just curious)
Thanks for sharing, made me smile.
b,
First of all, LMAO at the hot dog catalog!
Secondly, my dh was also heavily into cigars for a while. He built humidors and gave them as gifts. He loved JR's Cigar catalog too. He loved the banter in the descriptions.
I remember you commenting on a post of mine months ago that you loved dh's t-shirt. I guessed at the time that Joe must have owned the same shirt because you could only see part of it in the picture. "Life's too short to smoke cheap cigars." Joe rendered that saying quite profound. I'm glad that he enjoyed his hobby to the fullest.
Funny! Hot dog catalog?? LOL!!
I just think 'little Joe' when you tell that story. :-) Too cute!
When we were closing on our house, we weren't really sure what we should ask the owners about. We talked about the apple trees in the backyard, yadda yadda yadda... And then the hot wife just blurts out - "what time does the mail come?"
We all just looked at her like she was crazy, and she felt so stupid afterwards :) Guess she was nervous.
interesting post...:),oh and umm good morning.
That is unbelievably cute! Like father like son.
cuteness!!!!
I love the whole dragging the catalog everywhere thing. I can really picture that.
And, that cigar room sounds like it was awesome. A true "man" room. I am glad he got to do it, and show it off.
That is soooo cute!
I was actually there for this story but reading it the way you told it made me laugh out loud all over again.......N
Leslie,
Nope I don't smoke them. Not sure how good they are at this point, b/c I've pretty much neglected them. But I don't have the heart to throw them away yet.
awww, that's cute about the 'hot dog' catalog. I liked this post!
This works on so many levels. Honestly. More than bloggable, this is what we used to call in the Old World "publishable."
(There's more than a hint of a good idea in this comment, BTW. I would be glad to elaborate if you want.)
please elaborate!
It just occurred to me recently that a lot of what you have here (on the blog in general and in posts you have yet to write) has interesting potential. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. It's just that I know that you already have readers, and that's most than the average writer starts with. Things to think about.
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