June 11, 2008
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My Dad
With fathers day fast approaching I thought that I would try to do a post about my father who passed away last year just 11 days before his 75th birthday.
Dad was born July 6 1932,the first of 6 children between 1932 and 1955 (his youngest brother is a year younger than my oldest sister) One thing that nobody can argue with is that he had a very good sense of humor,one time that I am thinking of right now took place in the late 70s. Dad owned a variety discount store from 77-91 in the Fayetteville Arkansas area(started in Fayetteville and moved to a small town just west of town in the mid 80s)
We were on a buying trip on this particular night and I am driving along an empty stretch of Texas highway at 2am. He is asleep in the passanger seat of the pickup and I had the radio on a talk show just for background and to help me stay awake and alert(too bad it didn't work for him as well or this story would never have happened). Anyway,I am driving along and things are peaceful until all of a sudden he asked me in an urgent tone,"Pat,Can you see?",needless to say that from him being asleep for a couple of hours and then all of a sudden having him ask that,my heart skipped a beat or two,"Yes,I can see" I told him. He let out a little nervous chuckle and informed me that when he woke up he could hear the sound of the tires on the road and hear the radio playing but couldn't see a thing...he forgot to open his eyes. I teased him about that off and on for the rest of his life.
I remember when we wrapped him up like a mummy one year for halloween and he stood in the picture window of the living room and scared the kids as they walked up. And how he would ski down the mountain with one of his kids on his shoulders. And let us not forget mothers day 1965 when he was managing woolco and had 1000 cases of Coca Cola,1000 cases of 7-up and 1000 cases of either Pepsi or Mt Dew and had them in pyramids in the parking lot (let us remember that at time soft drinks were in bottles)when a freak blizzard swept in and bottles started popping and soft drink trucks were rushing around trying to load all the cases before they all broke.The funny thing is that about 14 or 15 years later,in a different state,one of his customers remembered the pyramids,turns out that he worked for Coke in Denver at the time. And ANOTHER customer( who is my oldest sisters age ) was talking to my dad one day in Fayetteville when dad mentioned that he was the first retailer to sell Mt Dew, the customer told him that there was a woolco store in Colorado where he grew up that gave away Mt Dew hillbilly hats but by the time his mom would let him ride his bike to the store they didn't have any left,Dad laughed and said that was his store and he only had 500 hats.
Dad,I love and miss you and think of you everyday. Happy Fathers Day.
Comments (13)
Great post. =) It sounds like your dad was a wonderful man.
@sigma_C_eq - Thank you,he was one of a kind.
I don't think I've ever heard the story about the pop bottles - good one.
@trebleclef402 - I also thought that you would like the pic of dad with that little blonde headed kid on his back
I look like a puppet! lol
@trebleclef402 - I was tempted to put the pic of you and Rhiannon after the crystal mine in it as well.lol
Sounds like you miss him,a great person..
Josh
@Josh2006O1 - I do, I moved down here to help mom take care of him and even tho he was dying we had some really good times in the last year and a half of his life. I think we ALL of us think of our dads as ten feet tall and bulletproof. Never miss a chance to let your folks know how much they mean to you because one day they won't be there for you to tell them.
yeah your tight on that part,people cant always be their.
Which branch of the military was he in? (saw the flag on the coffin)
People like that are always missed. Great story about forgeting to open his eyes!
@Legendairy - He was in the Navy during the Korean conflict. You can also read more about him on my sisters (saintvi) site.He had a great sense of humor which sometimes got him in trouble from mom.His funeral was more of a tribute with lots of stories from different members of the family and more laughter than tears.For the last 3 years of his life he only had about 7% use of his heart,he had so much that was wrong with him that it was a blessing for him to go when he did. He beat the odds by dying in his sleep thereby dying pain free,which is the only time he was free of pain(asleep I mean).
@yingforyouryang - I tend to go to her site from time to time anyway so I'm sure I'll see it. ...He sounds like he might be similar to my grandfather on my dad's side(who cracks me up with his sense of humor... and whose sense of humor now typifies my family)
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