Celebrating a Life

I woke up this morning thinking, wow today would have been my dad’s 111th birthday. Maybe it’s time for another daddy story. I know I’ve told you so many precious nuggets about my dad in the past but one thing that stands out for me is how he was always trying to help others – from being an usher at church, to serving coffee to the seniors at the senior citizens home, to mopping the elevator and floors in the project building in which we lived. Basically I think he felt the need to keep busy after his retirement plus he was an incurable socialite. When visiting me here in Maryland he would go out walking and by the time I would come from work, he would tell me all kinds of stories about people in MY NEIGHBORHOOD!

It got to the point that I was scared to leave him alone in the house while I was at work.  I never knew what I was going to find when I got home.  One day I came home and he had the mop and a bucket of water with some kind of disinfectant in it ready to wash my hardwood floors. I immediately started admonishing him not to put any water on my floors.  Of course he was insistent that he was only going to put a little bit – in his words “just enough to get up the dust”. I told him that’s why they made dust mops!!  If you knew anything about my dad, you would know that NOTHING was a little bit – everything was extra, over-the-top! We could barely get into his apartment because he had a giant TV, along with a giant treadmill and a couple of bikes in the hallway leading into the apartment. We went back and forth about the floors until I finally said, “Listen daddy, if you put that water on my floors, I’m taking you to the bus terminal tonight and sending you back home!!!” He finally conceded.

When I lived in Boston (as a newlywed), my husband and I lived in a nice apartment in a three story family house; however, there was one major problem, it was infested with roaches! My dad came to visit and immediately went to work!!! He went to the hardware store, stacked up on a combination of chemicals and when I returned from work I could hardly breathe from the fumes!!!! I started reading the stuff he concocted and clearly it said – DO NOT MIX!!! There he was covered from head to toe (including a face mask), spraying. I can tell you that not only did he kill the roaches but he nearly killed us as well!!! One thing for sure, we never had a roach problem again!!!! That was him just trying to be helpful.

So it didn’t surprise me at all when the children and I went to visit him only to find my brother extremely upset. Apparently, while my brother was at work, he decided to do my brother’s laundry. Well my brother had these expensive sweaters that he loved and daddy washed them in hot water. OMG! The sweaters came out sized for a three year old. Mind you, my brother wears at least a double X sweater!! My brother was almost in tears. I felt so bad for both of them. It’s a miracle that they both survived that one. It was just my dad, trying to be helpful.

So on the days I fight to hold back the tears, I force myself to remember all the laughter. On this day 111 years ago, the earth was blessed with the presence of this amazing man – my dad. I remember him with love and affection. I’m so grateful for all he was.
Please take a few minutes to re-read my poem for him.