It’s 10pm and since I’m just getting around to writing this might be a short but very sweet one.
I’ve written a lot about my Dad in previous entries. He will be 80 in December. He has 5 children, many grandchildren and several great grandchildren now. He’s been married twice…my mom was his second wife. He grew up in Pennsylvania where a lot of my family still lives and ended up in Kentucky with his job, and soon after met my mom. He served in the Army in Korea and he worked as an industrial engineer for many years.
He had many interests including woodworking and building and flying radio control airplanes. He had a soft spot for animals and took good care of our dogs when I was a kid and found a best friend later in life with a black cat he named “Cat.” He always had some kind of renovation project going at the house…even when he worked 12 hour days at his job. He took excellent care of our yard and kept a garden. He did a lot of the shopping, cleaning and cooking while I was growing up when my mom was dealing with depression. He provided for all 5 kids although only 2 of us lived with him…my 3 sisters stayed in PA with their mom. He paid the bills, saved money and although I know it was a struggle for a lot of years, we never went without. He paid my way through college for which I am forever grateful. He agreed to getting an in ground pool when I was a teenager…because well, my mom didn’t give him much choice. He was very agreeable in general and enjoyed when we were all happy.
He is a quiet, soft hearted soul with a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor. Even with the neurological illness he’s dealing with now he still cracks jokes and makes light of heavy things. He will say something random in Korean or German to the nurses or aides at the nursing home at unexpected times and he keeps them laughing.
Today we had one of those laughs together. He said something REALLY funny and we laughed about it off and on throughout my five hour visit. I don’t normally stay that long on my visits but I just needed to today.
So right before I snapped this selfie I made HIM laugh by repeating the funny thing he had said earlier.
Precious moments with the people we love…thank You God for each of them.
I remember him pushing me down our dead end street on my yellow banana seat bike like it was yesterday…teaching me and holding on tight when I was scared but letting me go when I was ready.
You never know what tomorrow will bring. Tell the ones you love that you love them…they need to hear it. Hold on tight when they need you. Let go when they are ready. And LAUGH together as often as you can. That’s the sweet stuff.
Blessings,
Stacey ~ iamalive41