Chapter 7 in a Series: My Puppy Peppy Papino
This weekend was going to be fun! Mr. Papino rented a booth at the Turkey Festival in town, and the entire weekend was going to be all about the big parade, Motorcycle Bike Shows, Car shows and Bike races at our local drag-strip, carnival rides, cotton candy, live bands, thousands of bikers and tourists, action everywhere you turn!
As for us; we had a booth which consisted of a canopy tent, a table, and lots of leather-made products that Mr. Papino had made throughout the year in his workshop. I had no clue that he was making all these things every day.... I thought he was retired!
He had horse-saddles, motorcycle seats, leather jackets, head-bands, leather chaps, leather belts, leather side-bags for motorcycles, and other leather items; all with the insignia "by J.P." on them... the same as the logo on my new leather coat... and boy, did I love my leather coat!
On Friday morning, on my way to school, Mr. Papino waved at me from his front porch and said, "Hey, stop by after school, I have something to show you"... here we go again....you know the routine.
So all day long I wondered "What now", and when I did get home and go next door, boy- this man still knows how to surprise me.
"Hey Mr. Papino", I said as I walked into his busy shop. He was still sewing on this noisy sewing machine, and when he saw me enter, he finished his stitching and greeted me with a smile.
"Hey Mr. Kyle, how was school today?" he asked.
"It was okay, I wore my jacket again... my friends just love it. Carolyn Simmons said that 'I look cute in it'; I think she likes me!"
I replied with a big smile on my face. " I think she is pretty cute too, and if that was a way for telling me that she likes me... well... maybe some day she can be my girlfriend."
"Oh" he replied, "You have the attention of the ladies I see!"
"Everyone likes the coat Mr. Papino, and I just love it... thank you very much!" I gratefully thanked him.
"Well" he said with a sort of down-tone, "Truth-be-told, you're going to outgrow that coat in about a year! Then.... Lord-willing, I'll make you a new one, and you can sell that one at the festival next year; you'll probably snatch a pretty-penny for it!"
That thought never crossed my mind for a second. I was growing, and I would probably hopefully outgrow that mini-leather coat... but now he put the idea in my head that I could put some money in my pocket and with that, I exclaimed loudly, "Really... how much money?"
He laughed a slow hard laugh, "Well hehehehe..... probably about a two-hundred-dollars or so!"...
"Two-hundred dollars" I replied loudly..."Really?''.... "Seriously"....
"Oh yea, ... seriously"..... he restated.
"Let me explain something to you my little friend", he spoke as he began to pull out a chair and take a seat in effort to tell me a story. Whenever he tells me a story, he usually starts out by pulling up a chair, wiping his face from his sweat, and settling into his chair to share a story with me. I could tell that I was going to hear a story from Mr. Papino....
"Everything today is modern" he went on saying... "Barely anything is home made. Most things are from China or somewhere overseas made in factories, quickly and cheaply. Most items are made from cheap fabrics and inferior quality animal skins. My leather products are from the best cows and bulls imported from Spain! They are still produced the old fashioned way, and the quality of my leather is the best in the world! There are not a lot of guys like me left on this planet anymore... guys who make things with their own two hands, slowly, with quality stitching, the best leather, and made slowly instead of mass production. You my friend own a genuine "J.P.!"
The more he talked, the more I felt bad... now I didn't feel bad bad, I just felt kind of awkward. I never considered how much time, effort and money that went into my leather jacket... I mean, I kind of knew, but I hadn't really ever given it much thought or appreciation.
Here it was, I owned a genuine "J.P.", and didn't even realize what that meant.
Then he said, "Actually young man, if you hang on to that jacket, someday after I'm gone, it may be worth 1000 dollars".... "You may want to keep it to pass it down to your son some day."
This took me to a place I had never been before.... my mind was spinning.... there were many things going through my head.
I replied, "Where are you going.... are you leaving here some day?"
"Why we are all leaving here someday young man... none of us live forever!" he calmly replied....
"What do you mean," I asked, "Where are you going and when are you leaving?"
I could see that in the look of his eyes, that he now knew or realized that I didn't really have a concept of death yet. Sure, I knew that people and things die; I just had not ever given a second thought to the fact that he would someday die, or that I would someday die; I just never gave it a second-thought until now!
With all of this, he could see that I became a little uneasy with this subject. I kind of shrunk back and lost my cheerful mindset. One minute we're talking about making money, the next moment we are discussing his death.
He grabbed me softly but firmly by the wrists, looked into my tear-filled eyes, and said, "Don't worry little man; I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon!"
With that I felt a little better, but then there were the other things he said that sparked my imagination; the thought that some day I would be a father, and have a son to pass down that jacket to... WOW... I had never given that a thought as well!
After Mr. Papino finished his story about china, factories, the quality of leather, mass production versus one-of-a-kind; with all of this, my mind was overwhelmed. You know, its amazing how a little story can change your life in a moment. Until now, I never really appreciated what I had. I never had a concept of quality, craftsmanship, art, one-of-a-kind things, arts and designer clothing... it just never crossed my mind. This conversation really changed my whole outlook on life!
I never thought about one day, being married and being a father and having a son or daughter of my own. I had never thought of the fact that one day, Mr. Papino, my folks or even myself might die.
I was deeply moved by our little conversation, and I could tell that he was concerned that maybe his conversation was a bit too adult for me; so I wanted to reassure him that I was old enough for this discussion.
"Well" I replied, "We don't live forever... so let's make the best of things right now while we can...."
I didn't know where that came from, and now I was trying to cheer him up; but still... deep down, I was just faking it.
"Mr. Papino" I asked, in a low and somber voice, "Will Peppy die someday too?"
"Son" he said to me, holding my wrists and looking me in the eyes, "We will all die some day, but we cannot fear death. God has a way of making us old... slowing us down... making us ready to someday want to go be with him. We get old... we get tired... and sometimes death is something we can look forward to!"
"So," I said, with a teardrop in my eye, "How long do you think Peppy will be with us?"
For the first time in my life, I realized the concept that we don't live forever; here on earth anyways..... For the first time, I had to look down the timeline of life, considering death for not only me, my parents and Mr. Papino; but for Peppy. I couldn't imagine Peppy dying... and the thought of it made me sick.
"Someday" he said, "We will all be together in Heaven, so don't you worry about a thing young man!"
With that, I began to be restored again. My heart filled with joy and excitement again and now we were back to the reason I was there to begin with.
"So... what do you want to show me?" I exclaimed with eagerness;
"Well" he said, now standing up and moving to the corner of the garage where the motorcycle stood covered by the tarp, "If we're going to be in a parade, we need a place for Peppy to ride".
With that, he unveiled the bike again, but this time there was the coolest little side-car attached to the bike; big enough for me and Peppy to ride in safely!
"Wow!" I exclaimed, climbing into the side car. "Wow wee!"
With that, Peppy lifted his head from the nap he was taking in the corner, and came running. Peppy leaped into my lap in the side-car, and sat on my lap, smiling away, as excited as I was to be able to participate in the parade... in top fashion!
Then Mr. Papino held up a little leather jacket for Peppy, with some leather type flying goggles that fit perfectly onto Peppy's head and over his eyes!
Between the three of us on this deluxe leather bike, with deluxe designer leathers, with a side car and a puppy all dressed up; we were certain to be the hit of the parade! We were so cool! Now I really liked the bike, because I felt safe in the side car, and the ability to be able to take Peppy with us on the ride and in the parade just made my day! Once again, there we were, all three of us, laughing, smiling, carrying on like the little motorcycle gang that we were... all dressed in leather like the real bikers! But more than that- we were- a gang-of-three!
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