Father's day

 Dad, Pop, Pops, Daddy or whatever name you may call him, he is Father. I call mine Daddy and for me it seems like it's just been the two of us. I guess because of my mother dying when I was young (previous post) & everything that is why I feel the way that I do. My memories of him are of him working 12+ hours in a chemical plant but then always being there when I needed him. The one thing that he has told me is that when I was born he brought my mother a dozen red roses and for me he brought a single yellow rose. Which is why no else, according to me, is allowed to give me yellow roses. Now what I can remember is that when I was EXTREMELY young I was in something like a car seat except it was all metal and  he was trying to teach me the name of our cat, Midnight, & our dog, Herk, and I was ignoring him, naturally,anyway, he told my Mother to put in an 8 track and when the first strains of "Joy To the World" by Three Dog Night started I looked at him and started kicking my legs and waving my arms. He had my full attention. No dear readers, I was not told this I actually do recall this event.

  Another thing that I remember is the reason why I don't like Halloween. My daddy took out trick or treating when I was 3 years old and we went to a house that had a screen door with an aluminum bottom. So I went and knocked on the door and when the door was answered a devils mask popped up from the bottom part of the door. I took one look, screamed and ran past my daddy. I was retracing my footsteps and was crossing the road with a car coming, I remember seeing the headlights but whether it was a straight on look or peripheral vision I don't recall, but daddy was behind me and caught up with me and swept me up in his arms once we made it across the street.

  When I was in kindergarten he would, when his schedule allowed, go on field trips with my class. The one that sticks out for me is the one when we went to the zoo and a peacock kept following him around for some reason. i don't recall if he went to the Krispy Kreme factory with us or not. The class had hot fresh doughnuts waiting for us when we got back.

  Let me think what else. Sinking the swing set poles in concrete after I flipped the thing... twice. Carry me on his shoulders, Daddy is 6' 9" so that was quite a ways up. Helping me with my math homework, as best as he could because I was near tears on my own. Little things like that he has always been there.

  Daddy has been there for the big things too. My mother's death, obviously, me almost dying and my step mother dying. When I first got sick I remember coming to for a bit and he's holding my hand with a worry look on his face and I'm telling him that I was going to be fine. and I was with the exception of an irregular heartbeat that seemed to have been constant but got fixed a little last year. And then this year with my breast cancer scare. I think the dear man was more relieved than me. But it's like he said, someone had asked him when do you stop worrying about your kid and my Grandpa, Daddy's daddy, was sitting next him and my daddy asked him when DO you stop worrying? My grandpa replied "Never".

  so that is just a few things about my daddy. Happy Father's day to all the daddies out there.