to watch them stock the coolers side by side and then work their way together through the crowds in the living room and dining room jimmy understandably subdued but pausing to thank each guest he met with an almost genteel warmth and double-palm handshake and theo his usual blustery , force-of-nature self several folks commented on how close they seemed to have become over the years , the way they moved through that room almost like a true father-and-son tandem .