Happy Day to all the Dads out there. Jeff has long said, and truly believes, that since he's not my dad, there's no reason for a card, etc. And I'm fine with that, after all I'm not his mother either, so that's two Hallmark holidays we simply don't participate in. You can go to the card aisle and read all the mushy gushy, and funny cards for free! At the cost of cards, which are not always saved, over the course of time save a lot of money.
I want to talk about my Dad, who was truly an amazing man and father. I loved him to the moon and back and always wanted to believe he would live forever, but of course he didn't.
Dad could make the most mundane things in life interesting and fun. Road trips with him were fabulous fun. One year on our way back to see Grandma, he borrowed a plug-in air conditioner that ran on ice. Now remember this was a long time ago, and he was sure that it would make crossing the desert easier to tolerate. I don't remember exactly how many minutes (I know it wasn't even an hour), before Dad and Mom yanked it out of the cigarette lighter and relegated to the trunk!
As a teen, who didn't drive, Dad would take me shopping, to the library or movies without the slightest bit of hesitation on his part. If we were shopping, he didn't stand around, like some men, patting his foot with impatience. He was just easy to be around.
The only time I really disappointed Dad was when I married at 18. I knew he didn't approve, he told me so. But, I was tired of being my mother's maid, laundress and cook, and decided it would be better to just work for myself. In theory it was a good idea, at the time. The marriage only lasted 5 years before I had to come home to once again live with my parents. He never said "I told you so", even though I knew he thought so.
Dad set up the blind date with Jeff and I almost 40 years ago and it was one of the best things he ever did for me. I remember before walking down the aisle, and feeling very nervous, and he just patted my arm and told me that he knew everything was going to be good - and he was right.
Jeff arranged and paid for Dad and I to go to England and Scotland for a three week vacation. That trip is one of my fondest memories. I remember arriving at the airport and we knew we had to get on a train to go into London. Trouble was we were very confused and the trains came and went swiftly. We finally decided that the next train that came by, we would literally (and we did) throw the luggage on the train, and hoped that we had enough time to hop on ourselves.
During that vacation, Dad was a favorite with everyone. Each night when we stopped, he headed down to the bar in the hotel, and relived the war with the other veterans. He had a marvelous time and the elderly ladies on tour, thought he was pretty neat!
In Scotland we tried Hagis, which is just awful, but we took a bite to be polite. We felt we had to try everything at least once. Both of us though were craving a real hamburger by the time the trip was over.
We wandered through castles, Shakespeare's home and visited the Roman baths in Bath, England. Visited Oxford, Tower of London (creepy) and the Postal Museum, since Dad was a serious stamp collector.
In 1986, when Jeff and I moved to Maryland, the hard part about leaving was that I couldn't take Dad with us. The summer before he passed away, I went to California alone and stayed with Mom and Dad for a few days, but it seemed much longer. Each morning though Dad and I would go over to the doughnut shop close to his mobile home, and drank coffee, chatted with all the old folks and had doughnuts. Dad was a daily visitor so he had his own private cup that he used every day.
When Dad passed away, the owners of the doughnut shop closed their shop for the day so that they could attend his funeral, as many of the other regular patrons did as well.
Dad was loved by everyone. He had a dry wit, was seldom angry and always up for an adventure and he loved me. We loved going to open houses or car dealers to check out the newest models. It's been years since he passed away, but I miss him still.
He and I used to talk about angel wings and he always said that if he went to Heaven (and I'm sure he did), then he wanted to be put in charge of handing out wings, and he would be sure to set a pair aside for me.
When we fly through the clouds, I always wonder if he can see me and knows how much I love him. I don't know what I believe happens to us when we die, all I know is that I want to be wherever Dad is.
I love you Dad.
P
Beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteRuthie