air conditioning

when one is grieving they are often flooded with memories of the beloved late one. thats me. all the time i am overwhelmed by memories of my dad. so here are some of my favorites:

eating jelly beans out of dixie cups while going on walks together after dinner

going on bike rides down this big hill on longwood drive

his favorite musicals were phantom of the opera and les miserables

when my niece emmie was born dad and i listened to les mis on the whole drive down to jacksonville, fl. dad would stop the tape after every song to explain what was happening in the play

the smell of old spice

attending the midnight christmas eve church service for years together, just the two of us

he always had me wrap mom’s christmas presents

he would read me a book at bedtime and then bop me on the head with it when he was finished reading

he had a bald spot on his head and whenever we would be outside he would cover it up with some type of golf hat

he would shake his wrist to align his watch to sit properly on his wrist

when i first made the cheerleading squad, i taught him some cheers

he always picked me up from dance class and we would get a 96 cent frosty from wendys

he killed all the spiders for me (i am terribly afraid of spiders)

when i wanted to come on staff, he was the only one who supported me. and he was my first financial supporter

on sundays we would have driving lessons where he would let me drive his camry all over marietta. we would spend hours together talking about all sorts of things.

him teaching me about history. dad knew everything about everything

he would cry when he watched the musical carousal because of the song, “when you walk through a storm” reminded him of his brother tom that died when he was in college

him telling me about how he knew that the phone ringing at the end of the dorm hallway was for him telling him that tom had died

he loved food, preferred rice above potatoes though

sang me “scarlet ribbon” and “tora lora lora” before bed

he would not let me name my blanket bob (his name) because i was not allowed to sleep with a boy

when i would try to manipulate him, he would just laugh at my cunning ability

could break into a song at the drop of a hat

he was my ally and mediator in the midst of chaos