Games

So the other day i was on the phone with Jane and we got to talking about old games we all used to play. I can remember that Lins LOVED the game Guess Who and we played it all the time over at dads; especially during the summer months. The other game we played a lot was a game called Sticky Situations. That was one of those games designed to get parents and children talking about what to do when - not my favorite game; but we had fun with it. Then there is the old card game cribbage. I haven't played crib in a while - but now it is my goal to teach Ed so we can play together. Lins and I are very competitive in our games of cribbage and used to be able to beat anyone we played including dad. I am ready to get that skill back up :)

Change

So since i started writing i have noticed that i don't feel the need to write everyday. Instead i am going to write when the urge strikes me. My biggest fear was forgetting the memories i had of dad, but now that i am paying attention to that fear i notice that strangest things in every day life remind me of a memory. Like the other day i was feeding the birds i saw the biggest blue jay i have ever seen in my life. This is something dad would have loved to hear about. He loved to talk about the birds, turkeys, deer and all the other wildlife he saw and took pictures of. I miss him every day but i feel closer to him as i am able to remember these small random things about him every day.

Old memories

So today i was talking with some of my girlfriends and we are thinking about going to the New Kids on the Block concert (AGAIN!) and it reminded me of when dad was first living in Whitewater. I used to have the Hangin Tough video and Lindsday and I used to watch it over and over again in our living room! Poor dad for putting up with that!

Speaking of houses, i remember this one house he didn't live in very long in Jefferson i think. It was an upstairs apartment per se. But i remember it had a cool "toy room" aka porch of some kind and a deep tub with a long neck spout into it. I don't remember much else about that house but i do remember that i liked it there. Maybe one day i will go looking for it!

Pudgy Pies

So on Ed's first trip to our hunting land he was really in for a big surprise. My dad and Jane have a camper that you have to drive through a corn field, over the bike trail and up some crazy hill to get to. Pretty typical for Wisconsin, but i am sure Ed had never experienced such a thing! That was a fun day! We showed Ed around the land and made pudgy pies over the fire with a new contraption of my dads. Basically it holds together two pieces of bread and the fillings so you can heat it over a fire. They were pretty darn good if i do say so myself! That was definitely one of my favorite recent memories of hangin with my dad!

My other random memory/thought for the day was how my dad used to always ask me questions about school or my career plans. He always used to be a perfectionist i thought when it came to grades or accomplishing goals. He wanted to know why a B instead of an A, why did i not negotiate for more money during a job etc... But that plays in the back of my head now as i am trying to deal with feeling like i am ready for a change in my life. I am thinking it will probably be career related since HR is not exactly the field i had set out for, but i am also thinking maybe i should go back and get my PHD. I blame this squarely on him for helping to instill that i don't have to "settle" on anything and I should always strive to get/do what i want. I am praying he finds a way to give me his opinion on the choices at hand (even though i am pretty sure i already know).

Behind

So with my trip to Wisconsin and all of Ed's craziness at work i am behind - but never fear we are back on track and i will do 2 postings a day for a while to get caught back up again.

My reason for going home this spring, was to help see some of dad's stuff picked through, divided up and sold during our "man's rummage sale". Somehow i thought this would be a healing activity. It is all still too fresh in my mind to figure that out, but what i can tell you now is that my dad had a TON of stuff. To many of us it was just that - stuff, but to dad it all had a purpose or a time when he might need it. And dad would not want it all just sitting around and he would be glad that people will be making good use out of the things he had collected over the years.

While we were going through those things, i found my old softball glove and instantly started to cry. Dad used to play softball and i can remember watching him as a kid. But when i got a glove of my very own, he and i would play catch and practice fielding to prepare me to play as well. Those were fun days!

TV Dinners

It is amazing the things around you that can bring back a memory. Today i was at the grocery store and passed the freezer isle and it had the kids meals in the front. All of the sudden i was overcome with the memory of being 8 again. There were nights i can remember my parents would let Lindsay and I eat tv dinners for supper. My favorite were the ones that had chicken nuggets and the warm apples in them. I loved those apples! Dad even used to let me eat the ones from his meal every once and a while. I think just for shits and grins i am going to buy one of those and have it for dinner!

Camping

So tonight I was reminded about the smell of campfire and that brought back all sorts of camping memories i had from when i was a child. We used to go to this little campground somewhere past the Dells with dad, Jane and a bunch of their friends. While i cant remember all of them, i can remember their being other kids. Lindsay and I used to stay in a tent until dad upgraded to a small camper. I am not really the camping type, but i liked making smores over the campfire and swimming in the pool. I even remember someone rigging an antenna so we could get a tv station to watch (sort of ). Those days were fun but i still don't like camping!

Announcement

So today it was announced that Madden was retiring from football commentary. Dad is cheering about this right now because he loved football but did not love John Madden. I remember that he used to turn the game on tv but put it on mute and then turn the radio on and listen to those commentators just so he did not have to hear the man's voice. To me it was the funniest thing, especially when the radio didn't match what was going on in the game on the tv.

On that same though process, dad and I had been talking shortly before he died about planning a trip for me to come up and go to a Packers game with him this fall. One of the last things before he died was go to a game in the cold and snow :) He really enjoyed that game and they won! I have decided I am still going to go to a game this fall because that is what he would want but it wont be the same without him there to tailgate with.

I am really enjoying this journey of memories! Every day it is something different that makes me think of a story to share.

College Visit

My story for today has to do with the three day trip that my dad and I took when i was looking at colleges. The memories i have from that trip are quite lengthy so for tonight i think i am going to talk about going to Embry Riddle University in Florida. I remember the male student who was serving as our tour guide made reference to the fact that there were 14 males to every 1 female. I am pretty sure dad made some comment to me later that night about how that was not really a selling point I should consider! More stories from that trip to come!

2 day catch up

So today i have 3 stories to write about.

The first has to do with Sunday breakfast. Dad usually always made big Sunday breakfasts for us after church. When we lived on Cole St. dad would give Lins and I money to go down to Tom's United Food and get doughnut holes and the paper while he was making breakfast. Lins and I just got excited that we got sugar, but dad made really good eggs and bacon to go along with it.

Driving lessons with dad... oh those were interesting. The one that sticks out in my mind the most was the lecture i got about driving in sandals. I did not know any better and really didn't understand why, so i drove in sandals once i got my license. That was until i moved to Alabama. Now my feet get sweaty and hot in the heat of the summer and my sandals don't stay on my feet. I guess dad was right about that after all!

Baseball

So today i have two stories to tell since i didn't get to write yesterday.

1. When dad moved to Fort Atkinson we lived with a park and baseball field in the backyard. I remember we used to go and watch the baseball games together as a family during the summer. I remember one night specifically that Lindsay and I were watching a game and dad came over in a hurry to tell us to get home. Apparently there was really bad weather coming and we were totally oblivious to it. It was so much fun to have a baseball field in the backyard.

2. Tee - ball, need i say more? When dad lived in Whitewater there was an open field in the back of the trailer park. He used to help me practice for my tee ball games in that field. He made me a tee that i could use to practice so that i could beat the crap out of it (i wasn't very good). But every time i would actually hit one out in the field he would go and get it for me. We spent a lot of time in the summer time out there practicing and even though i never did get any better, we had a lot of fun doing it!

Going Away Parties

When i first decided to move to Alabama everyone thought it would be temporary, heck that is what i thought too. The first time i left we had a going away party at Ann's in downtown Watertown. It was snowing bad that day but everyone came out to have a good time. I loved Alabama and i met a guy, so i came home for a few months to finish school and then i was headed back. The last night i worked at the Yacht Club dad and Jane and Grandpa came out to party and celebrate with me. We had a good time that night!!

Oldies

My dad liked to listen to awful AM radio and oldies music. I can not tell you how many car trips i suffered through that i had to listen to fuzzy radio and boring people talking about nothing. But then there were also the days where dad would turn the radio up and sing bad oldies with us. I think tomorrow i am going to listen to some oldies!

Title

For as long as i can remember dad called Lindsay and I, daughter #1 and daughter #2. He would answer the phone that way, refer to us in conversation that way and pretty soon she and I would refer to ourselves that way and still do! I have the best sister.

Canada

So today while i was thinking about the memory for the day, i was reminded of the long car trips we used to take. When my parents would drive us to Canada to see the family we would leave at night. I have fond memories of sleeping bags and blankets that would be laid out in the back of our old station wagon for Lindsay and I to sleep in. Those were some fun car trips!

Technology

So today's memory is short and sweet. Dad was into computers and very smart when it came to technology, but he was always a few steps behind in implementing and using it. When cell phones came along I was very impressed that he had one and used it. Last November dad went out hunting during gun season like he usually does, and one night after a successful day he sent me a TEXT message. I did not even know dad knew what text messaging was, but that he remembered to message me was so cool.

The week after dad died we were going through all sorts of paperwork and i came across his cell phone bill from that month. He sent 1 text message that month - and it was to me.

Ice Cream

So today's memory is going to be about one of my favorite food groups - ice cream! This happened one day while I was in high school. Dad and I got an idea to have ice cream - which turned into the biggest sundae I have ever seen. We were eating it out of a mixing bowl wearing cooking aprons for bibs. We even took pictures to document the gigantic sundae! That is one of my favorite pictures of dad and I.

In this case it is not necessarily the memory that is important, but rather the time frame. High school is a rough time for kids and their parents and we were no different. Dad and I struggled through those times for a while. The ice cream sundae incident happened right in the middle of all that and it was so special because we were able to still have fun and create good memories even during the not so good times.

January 4, 2009

Three months ago tomorrow my life changed for the worst; that was the day my dad died. My goal in writing this blog is simply to share my memories about my dad. Every day will be a new story, memory, or thoughts about him.

Choosing the first memory is a hard task! Growing up I knew my dad as an avid outdoors man. I was born during opening weekend of deer hunting season and that seemed to set my course for father daughter bonding time. When i was 14 my dad took me to hunters safety course, studied with me, practiced with me, taught me how to shoot a gun, and helped me pass. The reward was that I got to go hunting with the boys that year. I have never been so excited and nervous all at the same time!

It was a cold Tuesday morning when it happened. I was standing on a hill over a small valley and a little deer showed up on the path below me. I will spare everyone the details, but you can guess. More than the exciting feeling of getting my first deer, was the fact that my dad was there to see it. I can still remember him yelling from across the valley "yeah, yeah, alright". He was proud of me and that was all I cared about!

The path this all happened on has since been named "Charity Lane". Every time I walk that path, I will think of how much I enjoyed those fall hunting trips with my dad.

Love you dad!