Dad

     IN THE COCOONED MIND OF A CHILD, NOT YET DEVELOPED, I FORMED AN OPINION OF SOMEONE WHO LEAD OUR HOUSEHOLD OF 7. BIGGER THAN ME, WAS ONE SET IMPRESSION! HE SEEME TO HAVE THE POWER OVER EVERYONE.  "I AM RUNNING THE HOUSE, DON'T CROSS ME", WAS MY IMPRESSION AND A GOOD IDEA.
      MY ARCHIE BUNKER DAD WHO SEEMED TO HAVE IMPRESSIONS OF HIS OWN. AN IMPRESSION THAT A HUGE PAN FULL OF GOLUMBKI'S WOULD KEEP OUR STOMACHS HAPPY...AN IMPRESSION THAT HAVING A LAMB NAMED "LAMBCHOP" WOULD BE A REWARDING EXPERIENCE FOR CHILDREN... AND IT WAS , UNTIL OUR SWEET BOTTLE FED PET DEVELOPED HORNS..AND USED THEM!   HIS IMPRESSION THAT WORKING FOR THE TOYS-FOR-TOTS PROGRAM WOULD BE A HELPFUL THING FOR OTHER CHILDREN, ASWELL AS OURSELVES AT CHRISTMAS TIME, UNDER OUR GROUP EFFORTED CHRISTMAS TREES....
      OUR EVENINGS OF GOING TO SLEEP DURING THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC ON REEL TO REEL, WAS A GREAT IDEA AND WORTH REMEMBERING.
       OUR NEW ENGLAND ADVENTURERS BY CAR TO PLACES NEAR AND FAR-SEEM FAR TO ME BECAUSE WE WOULD APPARENTLY NEED TO PULL OVER IN CASE I GOT CARSICK!
      AND NOW I NEVER GET CARSICK AND LOVE TO TRAVEL... THANK YOU, DAD!
      I CAN GO THRU A LIST OF THINGS I REMEMBER: CLAMBOILS WHERE THE NEIGHBORS WOULD COME AND THE KIDS WOULD PLAY BASEBALL IN THE BACKYARD...MY UNEVEN PARALLEL BARS THAT DAD WELDED FOR ME SO I WOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO FLIP AROUND ON... HIS ACCORDIAN AND HARMONICA PLAYING... HOW HARD HE WORKED, EVEN IN COLD WEATHER, TO KEEP OIL IN THE HOUSE SO WE COULD BE WARM.
      THE SAD LOOK IN HIS EYES WHEN I WAS LEAVING HOME WAY TOO YOUNG TO PERSUE A LIFE THAT HE WAS SCARED I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR.
     THAT WAS THE TIME I REALIZED THAT WHATEVER HE TRIED TO DO FOR AND WITH HIS FAMILY, WHETHER IT TURNED OUT WELL, OR "FRUSTRATINGLY" NOT TOO WELL, WAS A COMBINED EFFORT OF WHATEVER HE WAS TAUGHT IN HIS PAST AND A HOPE OF BETTER DAYS AHEAD.
     DAD, I SALUTE YOU FOR YOUR COURAGE TO STICK BY A WHOLE HOUSEHOLD OF PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS OTHERS MAY HAVE WALKED AWAY FROM, TO SEE IT THRU.
      AT THE END, YOU HAVE BOUGHT YOUR SOMETIMES "DISTANCING" FAMILY BACK TO A NEW APPRECIATION OF EACHOTHER, AND,  WE WILL REMEMBER YOU ALWAYS.
             SUSAN SELIGA 97