Last summer, I was going through the roughest time of my entire adulthood. Dad lives an hour away but would drive out and spend long weekends with me. I was numb, void of life, depressed, given up. He'd sit and talk with me. I learned more about him and his life than I had all the years before. Here are some of the cool, interesting and somewhat surprising facts my father shared...
1. Number 11 of 12 children. His mother was epileptic and died in childbirth. Never knew her but when he speaks of her, he still gets that little boy look of love one has for their mommy.
2. Dad grew up in an orphanage. Happy there. Three meals a day, schooling, and a present for Christmas. His favorite memory? Playing cards with the nuns!
3. Grew up in Joliet, Illinois.
4. He and his older brothers were the best dancers around. Won contests. Mom wouldn't dance w/him.
5. Worked tending/managing bars back east. Hired Sonny and Cher to perform.
6. Did a stint in the Air Force. Hitch hiked out to his post in Alaska. Stopped off in Montana. Got into a brawl at a bar there and tore up the place (seriously, like you see in the movies).
7. Married three times. Once for three weeks to a Playboy Bunny! Stunned, I asked why only three weeks? Didn't you love her? "Good God NO!" Why did you marry her then? "Eh, she was beautiful. And she kept asking me to marry her."
8. Mom was his third wife. Married forty years. He is 6' and she was 4' 11". Never saw two people laugh so much together. Fun fact: they owned a 60 acre farm outside of Knoxville, TN for awhile. Complete with pigs!
9. Over the years, they had over two dozen foster children. Adopted four. Had one biological. Shortly after my adoption, dad placed his arm around my shoulder and said, "It does not matter if you're my blood or not, you were hand picked and that makes you special."
10. I was often in awe of his resourcefulness. Dad never hired someone to fix something around the house. Figured out how to repair the thing himself. If he didn't have the tools, he'd borrow them. I can still see him lying on his back underneath the kitchen sink cussing at the pipes.
11. Family is everything to DAD. During my high school years, mom got a job at UCI med center working nights. After driving a diesel truck all day, dad would come home and cook dinner. He wasn't the sit in front of the tv and let the wife raise the family kinda husband. When he did watch, it was with all of us. TV and conversation is still something enjoys.
13. Took me to a dinner theater once on a father daughter date. Eight years later, I remembered that place and went and got a job there--and that is where I met a nice guy in the cast who helped me get a job at Paramount Studios.
14. Moved to Arizona in his late 50's. Needed a job. Took a look around at the budding housing market and quickly found a niche--construction clean up. Bought himself a truck and he was in business. "Why not? What did I have to lose?" Prospered for ten years until he decided to sell it.
15. Dad is also the reason my ex and I began our own business. One day he was talking to his neighbor, "Hey, my daughter's boyfriend is looking for some part time work..." Four years into that job, my dad saw the ex had a knack for that, "Why don't you start your own business?" So we did.
16. Never known a stranger. Can talk to anyone. Great attitude. When asked how his day is he often responds with, "Well, I woke up this morning. It's a GOOD day!"
17. When mom got cancer, he cared for her, doted on her for eleven years. Got so adept at all her needs the nurses at the hospital would call him to come and hep with her special needs. Devoted husband.
18. Told me a couple years ago while we were sitting on my couch (during that lowest point) "You don't know how beautiful you are do you? You have so much more life to live. You, young lady, can do anything you want to do, you just have to want it."
19. My father is my best friend. I know, if you met him you'd like him. I didn't even meet him until I was twelve years old. We made sure to make up for lost time since then. My dad is the very definition of a good father. I'm a lucky girl.
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