Dad-isms!

Froggy reminded me of these few:

"Possesion is nine tenths of the law." He said that just about anytime he had something someone else wanted - and it was generally about food! He had a huge sweet tooth. He loved peanut M & M's, or blues & greens as he called them.

His favorite thing about presents was getting the receipt and returning them for the money. (I remember buying him something in the Atlanta airport on the way home to Texas from Florida, just so he couldn't return it! Remember that, Froggy?)

Watermelons: Dad would always find an excuse to eat the heart of the melon first, before anybody else could get to it. Then he'd usually grin at us. And the seed fights! He could shoot watermelon seeds pretty far, and he would bean anybody within reach, then try to look innocent.

I remembered these on my own:

I have my own watermelon memory of Dad. One time he brought home several melons, probably about 3. It was hot summer, and our pool was up so he put the watermelons in the pool to cool them off. Or at least that is the story he told us. In reality, I think he put them in there because he knew how hard they would be to grab and then we got to be the ones to go fish them out. The expression "greased hog" comes to mind!

Dad would also get the first bite of Mom's peach cobbler, usually from a corner. Dad loved to try to steal food from our plates, he usually managed but I recall more than a few times that we tried to protect our meals with our forks. And when I was a kid, if I had a candy bar or anything sweet Dad would tell me that he'd have to taste it first, to make sure it was safe for me to eat. Then he would try to convince me that it wasn't good enough for me to eat, and that he would have to eat it instead.

And then there was the time he taught me to eat cherry tomatoes. The way you eat cherry tomatoes is to hold one between your palms. Then he slapped my hands together! It was a mess, but it was fun at the time. He tried to talk me into holding a cherry tomato between my front teeth, with the idea of squishing my cheeks together and smashing the tomato but I didn't fall for that one, as it was after the holding lesson!

And he frequently would tell me that he would give me all the money I could catch, but I had to hold my thumb and forfinger out and catch the dollar bills as he dropped them. Try it, it's nearly impossible! I don't think I ever managed to catch one.

Dad had more fun than just about anybody I've ever known. He enjoyed life to the fullest. I really miss him.

And he taught my then about 3-year old daughter to say a special word, while they were sitting out on the tailgate of his El Camino - he told her to say her new word to me, she grinned and said "FART" as loud as she could. He cackled so hard I really didn't think he could breathe! I must admit, I laughed along with him. I'm sure he had something else that he taught Froggy's kids and probably the Monkey's Aunt's daughter.

He brought me turtles. Most trips to Oklahoma, we went along. And sometimes the turtles came home with us. But one time I remember that he and Mom went to Oklahoma and we stayed home with Aunt Jessie. When they got home, the were two boxes in the floor board of the back seat of the car. And they were full of turtles! He built a raised area in one corner of the back yard, it had short wooden sides but the sides were tall enough so that the turtles couldn't get over them. They had access to water, food and places to dig. I think he liked the turtles as much as I did. Froggy, I know you don't particularly care for turtles and that I am the reason for that because I used to chase you. But to me, turtles mean Dad and some really good memories. (But all you had to do was stop running, then the fun would have been gone and I wouldn't have chased you with them!)

Friday the 15th will be 3 years since we lost him. And I still find myself waiting for his Wednesday evening phone call, reaching for the phone on Sunday evenings to call him & mom, and when the phone rings and we are eating dinner I still expect it to be him. "What do you know" was his catchphrase when I answered the phone. Wish I could hear it now!