Friday, April 17, 2020
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I have a lifetime of memories of my father, some good and some bad. To many to write down of course but I will cherish every one of them all my life. Here are some of my very best memories of my father.
My dad was a very different person when I was little. My earliest memories of him involve Tostitos pizzas, which we loved, (he always had to add more cheese and pepperonis and would cut me my own special slices) and doing 12 piece baby puzzles together. He always let me feel like I was so smart solving them. We’d often spend our time together arm and thumb wrestling, I was convinced I was super strong but he almost always let me win.
I can remember the day he became Superman. I wanted my big girl twin bed on the other side of my room and instead of shuffling it over like a normal person, he lifted my entire bed over his head and moved it. I remember how red his face got and seeing all the veins bulging on his neck. I knew my dad was the strongest man on Earth that day.
Whenever we would go anywhere together he’d always stop at the gas station to get me banana milk. I can’t even say if I like banana milk as I haven’t had it since the last time he bought it for me when I was very little. And I remember playing outside with Megan once and he came home from work early and had brought me a bag of mini muffins and oh my gosh, I felt on top of the world.
My dad really loved to do fun things. He took me jet skiing many times, he liked to spin the jet ski so fast we’d fly off and he’d race me back to it. He thought this was hilarious, I thought it was terrifying. We went snowmobiling at the cabin many times but I wasn’t very brave at that and he liked to do all sorts of tricks and jumps and things on his. In the summer we’d often go float the river with all of his friends. He had this super giant inner tube that fit a ton of people. He’d tie a cooler in the middle of it, it was so big. I think I always managed to lose my glasses on these trips. His friends would take turns after the float to fit into the middle of it and they’d roll each other down the hills at the park while we waited for somebody to go get the truck.
When it comes to food my dad was super proud of having worked at Sizzler. He met my mother at that job, she told me he’d tell her to smile every time they worked together and he would make her French Dips and she’d hide in the supply closet to eat them. This job seemed to give my dad a lot of recipes and ideas for food. Some of them weird. He really loved miracle whip as his salad dressing. For years I was convinced I hated salad because I do not like miracle whip. He liked to make me cold cheese sandwiches. This was white bread with American cheese slices and mayo. When he used regular mayo I LOVED them. When he used miracle whip I couldn’t understand what had gone wrong with my sandwich. Favorite dishes he made for me were his bag pork chops, tacos, chicken fried steak, and zucchini bacon. When I was learning to cook in my twenties I had dad teach me some of his recipes. I really wish I had learned more of them...
I don’t know how old I was but I remember that one year for Christmas dad woke me up and told me that Santa had come. He took me to the upstairs living room and it was filled with fancy princess furniture. I had that furniture for a long time, he was so excited about it.
Other things we did together when I was little, play darts! He had his Cheers dart board and would try to teach me to play all the time. I also knew what Cheers was because our nighttime routine was to watch Star Trek together, then he’d put me in bed and let me watch Cops and then Cheers and then I had to turn the tv off. He also liked to go bowling and would spend time trying to teach me how to throw a bowling ball at home. It didn’t help my form though haha.
I used to spend Friday night with my Grandma Joy, dad always picked me up the next day after work and would give me his phone (which btw he’s had the same cell number FOREVER) and id get out my address book and call all my friends and if one was free we’d go pick them up. We’d always sing Johnny Verbeck on the car drive home.
My teenage years with him were not the best. Even still he got me my first car when I was 14. I think he hoped I’d get my license and drive over more. Poor dad didn’t know what a chicken at driving I’d be and that it would take me until I was 18 to get my license! Speaking of, he also got me my second car my oldsmobile when I was 21. He liked surprises and told me to meet him at trader bobs to go to dinner for my birthday. When I got there he just asked for my car keys and walked me over to this other car and was like “get in” then started showing me all the weird things about the car and then happily told me it was mine now. He did surprises like this every chance he got. He forgot my birthday one year so the next year he asked where I wanted to go for my birthday. I said out to breakfast anywhere he wanted to go. Birthday morning he showed up early, and we just started driving. Ended up at the airport where his very good friend Bob was waiting with a small jet thing and Bob flew us to McCall for pancakes.
When I moved in with my Dad just before moving to Portland was probably the best time we had with me as a grownup person. He always waited up for me and was always eager to make me food. I had a party with some friends and he made us saltines with jam and butter? I learned during this time that I am exactly like him at parties. He was so eager to make everyone comfortable and happy and serve food and drinks and be a great host and that’s my favorite part about parties too.
I am so happy I have our last outing together as my last time getting to be with my dad outside the hospital. I came over for the day and we watched some Hallmark together while I rambled about life and things. I mentioned wanting to go to Joes Crab Shack so he asked if I wanted to go to lunch, refused to say where we were going and directed me to drive all the way there. Looking at the menu I told him how good the crab dip is and he asked if I was going to get king crab. He loved king crab. So I did, he also insisted I get the crab dip, so I did that too. He had clam chowder. It was really good.
We cried tears together and laughed together and picked on each other and quite frankly I am so happy to have had him of all persons as my father. He will always be my daddy and I will think of him every time I look in the mirror because despite what he may have thought, we have identical foreheads. I love him so much and will cherish the things he taught me forever.
Love, Kayleen
