The Goon and her Keeper

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I had done something foolish or stupid and told daughter Lise I was just being a goon and needed her as a keeper. We laughed. For the rest of her stay, I referred to myself as a goon, not knowing we began with a different definition of the word. It became obvious that we were talking past each other, so I looked it up. To me a goon was someone who was idiotic or silly. To her a goon had an American definition, a henchman carrying out the wishes of a mobster. Both were correct, so from then on I called myself Goofy Goon.

I couldn’t possibly remember all the instances where I said or did something silly, but attributing it to Goofy Goon sparked our laughter. It was obvious I needed help with all the details that had to be attended to. Lise could easily read and understand legal terms, organize John’s funeral, make phone calls to get a refund from a nasty propane company, find where to go to register John’s estate, deal with medical bills, and confront a bank that gave us conflicting information. The Goofy Goon wants to publicly thank Lise for keeping her focused on tying up loose ends and getting ready to live in the altered state of widowhood.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

37 thoughts on “The Goon and her Keeper”

  5. And the many friends and admirers of The Goofy Goon give thanks to Lise as well for her actions of extravagant love poured out in so many tangible ways. That kind of love is not born in a vacuum. Three cheers to the Keeper, and many more too!

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    1. The propane company finally sent a check that John had called about several times. Lise was tenacious, taking notes about her calls and calling back repeatedly. I am so thankful that is behind us.

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  9. I’m so happy you have such a competent, helpful, sweet daughter! Dealing with loss is hard enough without hateful billing departments or whoever gives you a hard time! Shame on them anyway! I had my brother and my husband to help me when my Dad passed and I am so grateful for them!

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    1. Family is invaluable when someone dies.

      All of the people we dealt with having to do with John’s death were very, very sympathetic and helpful.

      The propane company owed us money for the gas that was left in their tanks. We had to hound them to pick up the tanks, and then they wouldn’t pay for the gas as they had promised. It was sad that a local company sold out to a large one, and the large one was totally incompetent. I’m so glad I won’t have to deal with them again.

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  10. Very nice you share helped Lise to you. Iam so glad. What Goofy Goon & her keeper? Some I can understand but not clear.
    Soory for it’s I ask you ! 🙏

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  11. What would we do without our wonderful daughters? Keep being a goon and keep laughing about it. I am sure your daughter was confused when you called yourself a goon – where do you keep your gun, I am sure she wanted to know.

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      1. I understand. It’s crazy, the amount of details that show up when someone passes. Bills and mail and this and that. Even emails that keep coming and things. Hospital bills for my momma and stuff like that. My sister in law took care of sending all the thank you’s for flowers and things. Love that your daughter was with you and helped you out. What a blessing.

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        1. I did all the thank you notes, and Lise was usually with me to make phone calls. I don’t hear well and often couldn’t understand people on the phone. They would speak so soft that I couldn’t hear them or so loud that it overloaded my hearing aids.

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