Robert Kirby: The Old Man and a promise I’ll never keep

I was a teenager on the lam when Delbert died in Idaho at the ripe old age of 78. His son in Utah — my father — eventually located me by telephone at a friend’s house in Southern California.After giving me the solemn news, he said my grandfather’s funeral would be in Boise on Friday. Would I be able to attend with the rest of the family?When I declined, he demanded an explanation. I can’t remember the reason I gave but almost certainly it involved hitchhiking 900 mi