SOLSC #26: Honoring my dad with a dozen memories (thanks, Kate)!

 

    Today I join my fellow bloggers in
"serving up a slice" to the March SOLSC
   sponsored by Two Writing Teachers.

In honor of Kate DiCamillo's 50th birthday on March 25, I shared the list of 10 things about Opal's mom from Because of Winn Dixie with my students.  Then I shared a blogger's post of 10 things about her grandad.  I  encouraged my students to compile their own list of things about a person who matters to them.

My dad died almost 34 years ago, but compiling this list brought back wonderful memories:

1.  My dad loved Popular Mechanics magazines and often completed projects from the magazines.  He built our game cabinet, a great little dustpan that didn't require bending over, and our wooden Santa with a blinking nose for the front porch.

2.  My dad loved folksy sayings like "Cute as a speckled pup under a red wagon," "Sharp as a tack and twice as flat headed," and my all-time favorite, "If I had a swing like that, I'd paint it red and put it in my back yard."

3.  My dad loved to drive FAST through mud puddles.

4.  My dad was a morning person, and I inherited my early bird gene from him.

5.  My dad loved to read my geography and history textbooks.  I often had to beg him to give them back so I could do my homework.

6.  My dad was one of sixteen children.  His favorite family event was the annual family reunion at Platt National Park in Sulphur, Oklahoma.  He loved being one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave.

7.  My dad took care of us during snowy weather.  He once walked several miles so he could drive my mom home from work after a snowstorm.  When I first started teaching, he would drop by my school on snowy days to scrape the windshield and warm up my car before I got out of school.

8.  My dad loved to learn.  He came from a rural farming family and only attended school through the sixth grade, but he loved to read the encyclopedias that he purchased (one volume at a time) at the grocery store.

9.  My dad was proud of his '56 Chevy and the engine he rebuilt with a little help from a friend.  I was appalled when our other car broke down, and he drove me to my freshman year of college in it during the early 70s.  It hadn’t quite reached classic status yet.  It was just Dad’s old clunker!

10.  My dad asked us to call "his office" (the downtown barber shop) if we needed to find him after he retired (no cell phones or pagers yet).

11.  My dad loved springtime and gardening season.  He loved his Troy-Bilt rototiller and the slogan he used to advertise his business:   "Have tiller will travel!"

12.  My dad had a “man cave” before it became vogue.  His favorite spot was the shed he built for himself filled with his tools, and outfitted with a wood burning stove and projects to while away the time.

I'm a lucky person to have had his influence in my life.  Even though my husband and children never met him, I've kept his memory alive through the frequent stories I share with them of my wonderful daddy.