In honor of Father's Day that's coming up this Sunday, tell about a favorite memory (either in childhood or recent years) you have with your own father. Also, tell us about your husband...What are some of the big things, as well as the little things that make him a great father.
Gosh, I remember so many things about growing up with my father. I remember that he was so much like a kid at times that I'm sure my mom must have felt like she had three children. I guess most wives feel that way. Here's a list because thinking of one story seems particularly difficult and like it just won't do him justice anyway...
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Every Saturday morning, as far back as I remember, my dad would wake up on Saturday morning and would absolutely BLARE Toto's
Roseanna. It was a little annoying when I was a teenager (what with trying to sleep until noon and all), but it brings back fond memories now. I can't hear a Toto song without thinking about my dad. I'll have to ask him what was so big about that song. I guess he just liked it.
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My dad is the biggest sucker ever. If there was a stray animal, he was dragging it home. My grandmother used to say he had done that since he was a very little boy. I remember I was in high school and he & I ran up to the corner market to pick up something mom had forgotten but need for dinner. Outside the door was a little girl holding a small grey bunny. She was trying to find him a home. I'll never forget that look in my dad's eyes as he held this bunny and crouched down and looked up at me as if I were the parent saying "Can we take him? He's so cute! We can build him a pen under the citrus trees and we can call him Stormy." And so we did. My mom, was not pleased, but she knew that's how he was. I think she loves that about him too.
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My dad would never yell. He never yelled and scared us with his manly voice. What he did was worse. He would crouch down, and through gritted teeth and in a very soft tone say "I'm so disappointed..." It was like the world was going to fall apart for me. It was more awful that anything else he could have done. I remember once even asking him to just spank me. But he never did, just would say how disappointed he was....
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I remember being in high school and there being a jacket I just had to have. Well, that time it was a jacket...There were other times too. Anyway, I digress... I could crawl up in his lap and ask him so sweetly for something an he would almost always find a way. I didn't ask often, but looking back, it wasn't just about what I wanted from the mall. It always meant that he would take me to the mall. Just he and I. It meant that we would have lunch and shop and it could be all about me. There weren't a lot of times that I got my dad all to myself. I cherished them. I still cherish them.
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My dad is the silliest drunk ever. We were forever going camping at our favorite lake with this huge group of friends and our boats and jet skis. All summer long there was one trip after another, whether it was a weekend or a week. They were all so fun. Such good memories. For my dad and his friends, it was a chance to let loose. In the evenings after the boats were in for the night, the drinks would come out and we'd just laugh and joke and have such a good time. My dad is the biggest, sappiest, silliest drunk ever. He did so many goofy things that we all still tease him about. Once, one of the girls was mixing up food for her golden retriever. My dad, grabbed a chip and dug in thinking she had made dip. He didn't even realize what he had done until she started laughing. Some of those friends still call him Scooby.
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My husband is a wonderful father. We fought a bit when Gracie was tiny, I think because he felt so inadequate. Like he didn't really know how to act or what to do. Gracie was breastfed and never took a bottle, so I think he really felt left out of that part of her life. Now is a whole different story. I would venture to say that now, they are much better buddies and she and I are. They have so much fun together. He's so patient and helpful with her. He does baby her a little and that drives me nuts, but I think he just knows that she won't be little forever and if she wants him to go with her to her room because it's dark, then that's just okay. He has the patience of Job, which I certainly lack. She's very lucky he's her father and I am very luck to have him as well.
