Nervous? Who me?

I was at the airport the other evening welcoming a friend home from a mission she had served for our church. She had been gone for 18 months! I have been friends with her father since I was 13 and he was 23. We are very close. He is very much the father figure to me. I was talking with him when his father came up and asked what was about my neck. He said it in a way that was a bit questioning. I felt myself becoming a little uncomfortable. Nervous even. I replied that it was a symbol of my fraternity, that I was a Freemason. Surely he recognized it, where had he been for the last 74 years of his life? He then replied that he was a Brother and had been so for the last 49 years. Raised in 1960 and PM in 1965. He showed me his watch, a gift from his beloved wife. In all the years I have known his son, he had never mentioned his father being a member of the Mystic Tie.
My thought is; why was I nervous? Was it simply his questioning tone? He is very much the jokester. And also, have any of you brethren experienced this before?
Perhaps it is just the influence of my catholic father, or something else?
Thoughts? How do you represent in the face of adversity?

Done and DONE!

Gave back my work tonight and was found to be proficient. Very glad to have completed this process. It was a quick meeting. Lodge opened, I gave back my work, our secretary and our treasurer were both absent this evening. We dispensed of regular business, someone moved that we allow them to pay the bills for the summer then we went dark until the 18th of September. Lodge opened and closed within 25 minutes. There was then a lecture for our lodge education component downstairs. It seemed to be a bit of a Geri-fest and Ken had a babysitter at home with a kid at a ballet rehearsal so we split. Good stuff.

Tonight is the night

Tonight I am going to the lodge to recieve the Third Degree and be raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason. I am not as excited as I thought I would be. That is not to say that I am not looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong. I thought I would not have been able to sleep last night but, I did. Very well I might add. It is kind of one of those things that a few months ago seemed like it would take forever to get here. Now that it is here, i am not sure where the time went. I guess I am pumped, just not the way I thought I would be. It is a sort of "a more dignified pumped".
I surely will be thinking of my cousin John this evening. He is not able to be there but he will be there in spirit, his grandson is graduating form West Point. He was my first exposure to the Craft. I will be giving my work back two weeks from tonight. This is the night we go dark for the summer. The pressure is begining to come on. I am sure I will do well but it will require a good deal of cramming.