Memories of dad

I suppose all of us who have lost our dads take a few minutes on Father's Day to wander down memory lane. My dad passed sixteen years ago, at the age of seventy-six.


Dad was always a hard worker. He held two jobs for most of his life, especially when my sister and I were younger. Our uncle owned a stationary store in town and, in addition to his full-time job as a route rider for a milk company, he worked a couple evenings a week and on Sundays at the store.


My sis and I used to ride our bikes down to the store, where dad would fix us ice cream cones. One of our big moments was to meet dad at the corner of our street and the highway when he was on his way home from work so we could hop in the car and ride back to the house with him


Dad loved his cars. He took good care of them, inside and out. I still remember him in a heated discussion with my uncle, declaring with a vehement punching of a fist on the kitchen table, "you will never, ever, see gas cost a dollar a gallon!"


Dad loved the Adirondack North Country, where he was born and raised. He married mom and raised us out on Long Island, but when we went on vacation, it was back up-state. I remember one time he called mom around ten in the morning and told her, "I'm getting off work at noon today. Be packed." She threw some things in a suitcase and we headed up to spend the week-end with relatives in the Adirondacks.


Dad loved the cold weather. I can recall going for walks with him in the snow. When we walked in the Adirondacks, it would be so cold that the snow would crunch beneath our feet.He never could tolerate the heat. Neither can I.


Dad played the piano with a talent that was a pure gift. He never learned to read a note of music and I was told he taught himself on an old pump organ. He loved the music of the big bands era. If I listen hard enough, I still hear some of those sweet melodies as vividly as I did when they floated across our living room fifty years ago.


I wish dad had been around to meet our granddaughter. I think he would have just adored her. I wish he were here to see our kids in their successful careers. On the other hand, he'd probably be miserable in today's world. All the technology, the economy, the politics, would be a constant source of irritation to him!


He lived a good life, and in those last months, when cancer attacked his body, he fought a brave fight and brought encouragement to all those around him.


Today, especially, I miss him.


Love you dad!


Thanks for reading my blog!