friday flashback.... dad

I promise today's post will be much more coherent and much less emotional than the one I posted yesterday!




I am so grateful to Uncle John for taking the time to put together a cd of pictures for me. As I flipped through the memories, I laughed, I cried... and I didn't want them to end... Each picture taking me back to a place I hadn't visited in a very long time. Over and over again, as pictures of Fireball, mom, dad, and me flashed across the screen I was reminded of how special my relationship with my brother is to me, how stylin' my mom was back in the day, what a cute kid I was at one time, and what a raging dork my dad was.
Seriously, folks. THIS was his favorite shirt...

That's right, reflective letters spelling out "BELLY" and an arrow pointing downward. I know, you are as green as his shirt with envy, aren't you? His fashion sense knew no bounds... I also have pictures of him sitting in our back yard - which at the time was across the road from Southside Park in Bicknell - wearing nothing but a pair of cut off shorty-shorts, white belly so proudly proclaimed in the above picture jutting out over the top of his pants, hair in an undefined poof jutting off the top of his head, and the confidence that he was looking good. The only way this outfit was ever improved upon was when it was paired with cowboy boots. Imagine that. I could post the picture for you, but it's early and you may be eating breakfast while you read this, so I'll spare you the visual. It's pretty amazing though, and it makes me smile.

This is another particularly special ensemble... seriously folks, this couldn't have been cool, even in the early '80s.

Is that hat for real? Maybe it had to be that tall to house all of his hair? And I love the fact that his wife beater is actually tucked in. Wow. But it's not just his mad fashion sense that earned him the title of world's most lovable dork... Imagine being in 3D or IGA (please tell me I'm not the only one that remembers 3D) and you realize that your dad is no longer with you. You quickly realize what's coming and you and your brother begin to look at each other, giggling with anticipation. Sure enough you hear him calling from the next aisle over "Elvira!!! Elvira wheerrre arrrre youuuuuu?" As you come around the corner, he comes limping toward you, who by this point are giggling uncontrollably, and your mother, who is doing everything within her power to ignore the site before. Not only has he assumed a limp, but both his glasses and his false teeth are now upside down. This may sound mortifying to many of you... but to us it was just another outing with Dad.

He didn't care if he was making a fool of himself. It was worth it for the smile. I kind of wish that he could see me now, grinning from ear to ear by the mere recollection of his antics! Picking kids up in the church bus, insisting on calling the girls "he" and "son"... just to get a rise out of them. Singing some of the worst renditions of God's music ever heard in the sanctuary of FBC. Being the biggest kid in the neighborhood when it came to sledding or the Fourth of July. Annoying my mom at every corner, but loving her with an undeniable passion at the same time. Those were the days.

I leave you this picture of dad and I. Seriously, could I get any closer to him? Man, I loved this man. I loved being with him, near him. I loved his goofy antics and his dorky clothes. I even loved that mass of hair (quite tame in this picture!). I loved the way he took care of us. And I loved the way he loved me.

I know he's somewhere singing praises and driving a heavenly church bus (think they have those in Eternity?). Or maybe he's sitting in a swing with a couple of oranges, waiting for the day he can share them with me? I don't know, but I hope God let him keep his mad sense of style, because Dad just wouldn't be Dad without it!

Love ya, daddy.