Daddy

Father's Day. Doesn't that stir up a bunch of emotions?

Mine is gone, has been for thirteen years. He was really gone before that, as he died of a dementia type of disease. I stayed angry with him for years after his death, but was recently able to forgive him. Ah, he was a man, not a saint. Just as I am a fallen, flawed human female.

So what are my good memories? We used to go shopping in Ann Arbor, way before malls. The winters were so cold. He would hold my shivering hand in his warm one in the deep pocket of his overcoat. He said a true gentleman, saying a man should walk on the street side of his gal and should tip his hat to a lady. He loved presents. We delighted in buying surprises for Mother and my two sisters. He was an atheist, but loved Christmas. He was THE Santa of all Santas!

He loved to sing. He was in some church (??) choir for a while. We would sing Christmas carols all times of the year together. My favorite was Hark the Herald Angels Sing. His favorite hymn was Whispering Hope. Towards the very end, he and dot played that song on the piano together and sang. TT videod. Daddy's voice quivered, then he soon dissolved into tears. Dot was too young to notice, or if she did , she did not stop playing and singing. Soon, he gathered himself together and rallied for the next verse.

Dad was a genius with numbers, shining as a career accountant. He hated how each company he worked for would "fudge" the numbers. He was so honest. He always said, "If you steal only one pea at the grocer, you are still stealing, even if no one else knows, YOU know."

We lived in the country. Way out. Mother and Daddy bought a deep freezer. Okay, it was like a grocery store, about four units. It was about fifteen feet long. It was one of the few things he ever bought "on time". Mother always bragged that he was never late with a payment. His word was his life. He did not break commitments.

He had a love/hate relationship with shopping. That means, he was a quantity buyer. If he liked something, he bought en masse. He loved apple butter. He ordered it from this quirky health food company, Barths. We would have boxes of it shipped to us. So many that he saved the apple butter jars, screwed the lids to strips of plywood, hung them from the ceiling and in those hanging jars, he stored screws, nails, nuts, bolts and such. It was really an ingenious storage system.

Daddy had a soft spot for all creatures. We had dogs, horses and he loved to feed the birds. For that reason, he would not allow me to have a cat. "It's not right to feed the birds and have cats around, waiting to eat them." Duke and Duchess were brother and sister border collies. Duchess turned out very mean, so she went on to some other place. I don't know where that was. But Duke was the apple of our family's eye. We never had him in the house. But he was so loved, my mother made him a woolen covered cushion for his bed in the dog house Dad made for him on our porch to protect him from the fierce winters. He built Duke a huge pen, like 40' by 40'. He would never chain a dog. Duke would escape the pen, and sit on top of the wooden fence post at the end of our property. When he heard our car coming down the country, dirt road, he would race us home, jump back into his pen and look angelic, like he had been patiently awaiting our return!

Elmer was the next dog, another boarder collie. His tricks were he loved to jump into the tire swing and he would run around the yard with ten feet long branches in his mouth! Somehow, we lost all of our dogs tragically. Either they were hit by a vehical, or would disappear. Daddy melted into deep sorrow with each sad disappearance.

Daddy loved to whistle. He also loved to dance. He and Mother taught round dancing and square dancing. So much that he built a dance hall on their sixty-eight acre "farm" in Michigan. They hosted many happy events out in that hall.

They got into health foods in the fifties. I was a sight in the school lunch room. "I'll trade you my pumpkin seeds and carrot strips for your Hostess Twinky". You can imagine how many takers I had on that deal! But, Mother said I was the healthiest of her three daughters.

Daddy is where I get my entrepreneurial instincts. He raised monkeys. He was part owner in a trailer park. And yes, he got into more than one network marketing business. Ultimately, he struck gold. Literally. He invested in gold when it was $35 an ounce. He sold when it was $800 an ounce. He retired at 50. And that is why I have a little bit of a retirement and a nearly paid for home.

Though a health food fanatic, he loved McDonald's. We went at least once a week. I remember when they had posted on their sign they had sold their first one million burgers! He also loved ice cream. We never had it at home, but would go to Bill Knapp's restaurant and get apple pie a la mode.

Daddy was very tall and lanky. He had long arms and a kind smile and a very tender heart. He would wrap those long arms around me and say, "All I want is for you to be very happy."

I was a very inquisitive child. I can remember he always answered my endless questions, with a lot of patience, I might add. He made me feel like every question had merit.

He loved working with his hands, designing things. Something else I got from him. I loved being in his wood shop, trying to build things from his scraps. He explained the engineering of bridges and such to me. I loved those times.

He could pack a car for a trip like no one's business. We never seemed to travel light, but he managed to pack it all in. I love packing, too. Can't stand a half inch of wasted space.

Hmmm, it's good to think on these things. I have squandered too much time murmuring over his failures. Daddy's nurturing ways paved the way for me to have something he never had. Faith in the Father above Who cares for me, provides for me and loves me through all my own failings.

Daddy done good.