My Abuelo
How he touched my life...
Isn’t it amazing how you can know someone for such a short amount of time but they can have such a profound influence on your life?
For me, that was my abuelo, my grandfather. You see, us kids used to call him “Abuelo”, the Spanish word for grandfather, because my parents and my two siblings used to live in Argentina before I was born. And my siblings first language was Spanish.
Now, I was created in Argentina. But I was born in Arkansas. I always joke that I was just two months away from being “exotic”. But instead I was born a redneck.
If you want to support my work, take out a premium subscription (just $7 USD per month).
My parents were part of this strange eastern religion called “The Baha’i Faith” and they were what they call “pioneers” living abroad in Argentina. A Baha’i pioneer is something akin to a Christian missionary but without the pay.
My abuelo was the local medic living in Lewisville, Arkansas. And one day my mom contacted him explaining to him some strange painful symptoms she was experiencing with her pregnancy. He said to my mom over the phone: “You betta get back to the States or that baby ain’t gonna be born.”
So, my parents and my two siblings high-tailed it back to the States where my own abuelo delivered me via emergency caesarean section. Apparently, I had been strangled by my umbilical cord. Imagine operating on your own daughter like that to save your grandson. My mom says that he didn’t want to do the procedure but he was the only doctor in town.
Well, I’m named after my abuelo. His name was Willie Lee and I’m named Eric “Lee” Harper after him.
And even though he saved my life and I’m middle-named after him, I didn’t really know the man. We only stayed in Lewisville for one short year before moving to Denton, Texas. And we would visit abuelo and abuela on holidays or the irregular visit here and there. But he wasn’t a man of many words. The only thing you would hear him talk about was sports and the weather. That, and he was a master chef, who would whistle while whipping something up in the kitchen. Boy, he could cook!
And man, was I terrified of him. He had a temper. One time I accidentally clogged one of his toilets up by putting too much toilet paper down the commode. He lost it real good and blew his top in such a way that you would have thought a volcano had gone off. So, whenever we visited I would try to steer clear of his temper, and from using too much toilet paper.
He passed away now about 11 years ago. And when I found out I began to cry. But what struck me the most was how I noticed I was crying. I thought “Well, isn’t that something.” Here was a man I barely knew and yet he had struck me to my core. I wasn’t sad that he died. Just felt like I was going to miss him. As Baha’is, we believe that the end of this life is not the end of existence, but rather the transition to a new phase of life beyond this one.
So, as a going away present I decided to write him a song. A song that said “Have a safe trip. And I’ll see ya when I get there.”
- Lyrics -
“Walk With Me”
So here we are tonight
You & me recite
While sitting here up on this wall looking up
Up into the sky
Our feet are dangling high
And every star is brighter than before
...
You brought me into this world
My life, it all unfurled
As you handed me to your daughter’s arms
I knew you as a child
And how you always smiled
Or would whistle while whipping something up
So won’t you walk with me for a mile
Oh won’t you talk with me for a while
And now you’re on your way
To that giant tea tray in the sky
Don’t forget to say goodbye
And though we sometimes pray
I bet you’re not afraid
Of the boat to the other side
‘Cause for the sharpened mind
The doorway to the other side
Only leads to the next great adventure
So before you venture off
To your saintly loft
Promise you’ll do just one more thing
So won’t you walk with me for a mile
Oh won’t you talk with me for a while
And even though I know
Only a small part of you from long ago
I know that I will miss all of you
- Guitar Lesson -
Downtune all strings 1 whole step (I am typically downtuned a whole step on my guitar for my voice to be able to reach certain notes.)
The chords for the song are: Fadd9 - C - Am7 - Gadd11 - G
I incorporate a Flamenco technique called “Alzapua” which is played only using the thumb resting on the first note and then strumming down and up. The chart below shows you what I play between the lyrical sections of the song:
You're currently a free subscriber to Eric Harper’s Substack. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
Incredible performance. Thank you for sharing 🙏