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Buc McMaster

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Circumstances have demanded I travel to Oklahoma to attend to my ailing father........and leave my beloved Gibsons at home. There is however a guitar here. It's a Gretsch 6003 Jimmie Rodgers model from the late 50s or early 60s. I bought this perhaps 30 years ago, had it converted to southpaw and gifted it to my dad in the hope he might spend some time with it...........didn't happen. Long scale with a quite narrow nut and string spacing, it's a little difficult to adjust to but hey, it does have six strings and is better than nothing, huh. I do miss my home though.......

 

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Like you say, it's got six strings, and it's a guitar.

 

So, your daddy is a southpaw, too? There's something slightly sinister about that...

 

Seriously, that's one reason I have a couple of different travel guitars. The little carbon fiber Composite Acoustics Cargo is short scale, but sounds pretty good and has a 1 3/4" nut. Practically bulletproof, so you can throw it in the trunk of a car without worry, or stuff it in the overhead bin of an aircraft, or in my case, put it on a boat for months, where the humidity could play havoc with a wood guitar.

 

Hope your father is doing better. It ain't easy getting old.

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Thanks for the good wishes, guys. Tough situation here. Mom's gone two years now, dad has dementia and physical limitations.......won't be any improvement, only decline. I'm the first-born and responsible party in all this, living 600 miles away makes it difficult but one must do what needs doing, yes? And yes, Nick, dad is sinister as am I. And a Swedish nurse is an option, Grunt.........but quite an expensive one. Got to weigh his needs against his finances and come up with the best solution. Not sure how long I'll be up here........bought a one-way plane ride to get here.........

 

Thanks again, folks.

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Doing what needs doing often means lifting burdens and the corners thereof. It's the work of life, and we can only hope to do it graciously, whether we're the lifters or the liftees.

Play that Gretsch...it'll be a lifter for you.

Keep us posted, Buc.

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Take care Buc. I have been where you are going, it isn't an easy road but one we have to set foot on at some point.

 

I've laid out there on that red dirt with a few beers and a cigar and looked at that sky, nothing to stop the wind but a barbed wire fence.

 

rct

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Hang-in there, Buc. I wish the very best for your dad and his family. My folks are still both around and doing pretty well. Mom is almost 92 and dad is almost 94. Both do very well, but the worry is always hanging over my head. Lots of us understand where you are coming from. None of this is easy. God Bless you and yours.

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I'm really sorry about your situation, there...God bless you for doing what you are...

 

And, it says a lot about the folks here that, in support, some have said they've been there,but no one has had the temerity/vanity to say, "I know how you feel"...'cause no one does...

 

hang in there...and play the brakes off that Gretsch...

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Sorry to hear that Buc. My Mom passed away about a year and a half after Dad. It was a lonely feeling. No matter what the circumstances are it's never easy. I'll try to remember to be praying for you.

 

Charlie

 

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1493476953[/url]' post='1852213']

Circumstances have demanded I travel to Oklahoma to attend to my ailing father........and leave my beloved Gibsons at home. There is however a guitar here. It's a Gretsch 6003 Jimmie Rodgers model from the late 50s or early 60s. I bought this perhaps 30 years ago, had it converted to southpaw and gifted it to my dad in the hope he might spend some time with it...........didn't happen. Long scale with a quite narrow nut and string spacing, it's a little difficult to adjust to but hey, it does have six strings and is better than nothing, huh. I do miss my home though.......

 

utZqIbg.jpg

 

Feel for you Buc keep your chin up

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Hope it goes as well as possible. Both my parents have been gone for a while but being with them toward the end is a blessing you will cherish it for a lifetime.

On the bright side, you have a captive audience. I played the nursing home cuircuit for about 10 years and no matter what their ailment was, everyone had a good reaction to music.

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I often wonder what it is like having family you love enough to take care of. My family was a family in name only and once I could leave I never looked back. My family will go top their graves without me. Don't hit your kids. Although I know a parent with dementia can be horrifying... I wish I had a father that I loved and loved me in return. It's bitter but a glass half full...

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I often wonder what it is like having family you love enough to take care of. My family was a family in name only and once I could leave I never looked back. My family will go top their graves without me. Don't hit your kids. Although I know a parent with dementia can be horrifying... I wish I had a father that I loved and loved me in return. It's bitter but a glass half full...

 

Not intending to be critical of you in any way, everyone's situation is different.

 

But no matter how we feel about them, the brought us into this world, and took care of us when we were unable to take of ourselves. When they get old, the tables are turned, and sometimes we need to take care of them.

 

I didn't always have a great relationship with my parents, but they were still my parents.

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