Caring Today Blog

ADIEU, GEORGE

Posted by Debbie on: January 20th, 2009

In the latest post of My So-Called (Caregiver) Life, Debbie gives her father an absolutely proper sendoff. Here she shares some fond and funny memories of food, friends and a few other unforgettable moments.

On December 20^th our family and friends gathered to remember my Dad. We swapped stories, sang songs and laughed. We laughed hard and we laughed long. It was, on the one hand, completely inappropriate because I admit to feeling some internal pressure to be somber. But I wanted to celebrate the spirit of my Dad. I wrote and presented his eulogy but I like to think of it as a "Best Of."

Best Practical Joke

We had a neighbor who saw my Dad as the "Oracle of All That is Right and Proper." One Christmas, this neighbor put up his decorations and then ran to my Dad for approval. Dad solemnly looked the house over and said, "Looks great, Russell, just need a few more lights." This process was repeated over and over until the neighbor received his electric bill and realized planes could land on his roof!

Best Food

Dad was a champion pancake maker. When the grandchildren would visit, a Saturday morning pancake breakfast was in order. One weekend, my Dad was not up to making pancakes. My little darlings staged a sit in and refused to eat until their pancake demands were met. My Dad, of course, capitulated.

How To Get To The Truth

Once, when my Dad was a young man visiting his niece and nephews, he went out to his car only to discover all four of his tires were flat. He was hot!!!  And, he was determined to find the culprit. Knowing that a display of righteous indignation and good old fashioned anger would not entice the little devil to reveal him- or herself, my Dad got inventive. He went inside, gathered the children and asked "What does it sound like when the air goes out of tires.  Sure enough, his little niece looked up with adoring eyes and said "sshhhhh." How could you be angry with that?

Friends

My Dad was the most accepting man I have ever met. He accepted each one of us as the miracles we are. He forgave our shortcomings and celebrated the bonds that hold us together. During the Korean War, my Dad and his buddies fixed up a beater car and would drive across country during leaves. During one leave, they took a young fellow soldier home to his family in the deep South. My Dad only realized his friend was black when he was not allowed out of the car at a gas station or permitted into a restaurant.

How to Met a Woman

The night my parents met, my Dad drank too much and my Mom had to drive him home. On the way, he leaned out of the window to vomit. My Mom drove in circles until he was done, using the" don't-spit-into-the-wind" theory. Less than a year later they were married-and stayed married for over 40 years.

That is who my Dad was-and is.