REALITY?: Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is my father’s ninety-second birthday. This is a man whose true light baby-blue eyes still sparkle when he sees me, or when we talk about my mother. They light up with a glee that few but my sisters and I can understand when he has taken something that was broken and made it work again; or saved a quarter with a coupon; hears the roaring of a revved up engine; has found the photo taken back in ’53 of me waving out the window of his brand new Oldsmobile; when together we get the tractor running; or when one of us presents him with a home-made Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. This is the man who taught me about painting houses, wiring switches and cutting tree limbs as easily as honesty, patience, love, devotion and what “til death do us part”really means in a marriage, by example more than words. He’s proud of me, I know, for going on to college and I must soothe and reassure him that it’s not his fault I didn’t take that path, way back then.

Now maybe I’m the one driving to the grocery store or to the bank so he can get around town, but he’s the one who taught me how to drive, and shop and save my money, after all. He still has more wisdom and understanding than his children, and I’m grateful that he’s still willing in his gentle way to pass it on.

Happy birthday, Dad. I love you.
Susan