Simply the Best..Dad
Today is my dad’s birthday. He was born on March 30, 1928. He would have been 91 years old. On a later date I will write a blog post about my dad’s life, hopefully on Father’s Day. My sister tells me that she has a handwritten memoir from him, and I may use it in that post. But, for this post I would just like to share a few of my memories to celebrate his birthday.
Sugar Cubes
My dad worked for Baker Oil. When I was little, he would take me to his workplace (office, warehouse..whatever it was) from time to time. I loved to go there because he would let me pick out a sugar cube when I went with him. In my mind’s picture, I see those sugar cubes being kept up on top of their hot water heater..but I’m not sure why that would be. Regardless, those sugar cubes tasted fantastic!
Hunting
My dad was a hunter. I remember ONCE he took me hunting with him when I was small. My memory is very fuzzy, but I can recall hunkering down in the blind. Jon, my brother, went with him often and I’m sure he remembers the time I tagged along with more clarity. I do know that hunting season was a big part of dad’s life and I still can’t stand the taste of geese!
Fishing
Dad was the best fisherman I’ve ever seen. He could find the best fishing spots and rarely came home empty handed. Others could fish at the same spots and catch nothing, but my dad would have a stringer full of fish. Speaking of fish..NOBODY could fry catfish like my dad! I can almost taste it as I write this, and I sure do miss it.
Christmas Eve
When I was young, my dad would go out every Christmas Eve and buy a present for each of us kids, just from him. I’m not sure what he got for the other kids but I distinctly remember three of the gifts I received from him.
One year he got me a choker type beaded necklace with a twist clasp. I wore that necklace every day, until it broke.
Another year he must have been running really late with his gift buying, but I loved the gift nonetheless. We had a restaurant in our town called Sambos, does anybody remember that? It was basically a pancake house, and looking back…seems a “bit” racist. I won’t go into detail, but I googled to find pictures and there seems to be plenty of information about it. Sambos sold stuffed toy tigers, and on this particular year, my dad bought me one for Christmas. This is not an actual picture of my tiger, but it looked exactly like this.
The last Christmas Eve present that I remember him buying me was a Commodores album (vinyl). I was a bit older, and I loved Lionel Richie and the Commodores. He actually bought me the album twice, because my sister Lorna and I were fighting right after I opened my gift. Even though we were almost eight years apart, we fought a lot. My dad was usually very calm, but we must’ve hit his last nerve that day. He grabbed the album out of my hands and flung it across the room. It hit the wall and broke. Lorna and I just stared silently with our mouths open, because we had never seen our dad lose his cool like that. Of course he felt bad, apologized, and bought me another. The fights were fewer and farther between after that, so maybe we were shocked into behaving.
Kansas City Royals
Dad would drive us up to Kansas City to see the Royals play, sometimes several games a season. Not only would he take me to the games, we would get there super early and catch the players when they arrived at the stadium. I loved George Brett, and because of my dad I was able to meet him several times. I think dad was just as tickled to meet the players as I was.
The Dump (aka landfill)
I loved to go to the dump with my dad. It was a special treat! Ha! When I was one month shy of fifteen, my dad was transferred with his job and we prepared to move to a new town. On our last trip to the dump in Great Bend(old town), we pulled up and of course there were dump birds (seagulls) everywhere. Dad got out to get the stuff out of the pickup and I stayed in the cab of the truck.
At that exact moment, “Morning Has Broken” by Cat Stevens came on the radio. Beautiful song. The combination of my last dump trip with my dad, moving to a new town, the song, and the beautiful birds flying everywhere brought me to tears. It was a memory that has stayed fresh in my mind for over 37 years now..crying at the dump.
First Night in the New House/Town
When we moved from Great Bend to El Dorado, my mom stayed behind for an extra day to clean the old house after the movers removed everything. My dad, our dog Dufus, and I spent our first night in the new house together. The furniture hadn’t arrived yet at the new place. That night we got take out food, made pallets on the family room floor to sleep, and dad built a huge fire in his new fireplace. We sat and talked by the fire until we fell asleep. Dufus cuddled up next to me and we prepared together for our new lives.
My Marriage
Before my first marriage, I was getting dressed for the wedding and my mom was helping me. She was giving me words of marriage advice and the importance of always speaking kindly to each other, respecting each other, etc. During the middle of this serious conversation, my dad poked his head in the door to see how things were going. He then looked straight at my mom, grinned, and said to her, “Hi ya fart face!” Perfect timing. 🙂
Humor…
My dad had a great sense of humor. When I think of dad, I think of him usually doing something funny and my sweet mother just smiling and shaking her head.
Oscar Spotlight
We used to have Oscar (Academy Award) parties each year. We would complete ballots with our guesses, and the family member with the most correct winners would get to accept our “Oscar” statuette..complete with an acceptance speech. My dad had this stupid headlamp flashlight thing. He would strap that thing on his head, we would turn out all of the lights, and he would shine his spotlight on the winner for the acceptance speech. I’ll never forget the grin on his face with that light on his head! 🙂
Armchair Luge
My parents both loved to watch the Olympics, especially the winter games. My dad would lean his recliner way back, put his body and arms in the proper stance, and do the “armchair luge”. Oh my, it was HILARIOUS!!
Juju Stick
Dad had this old, gnarly stick, I’m not sure where he got it, probably on one of his excursions at the lake. He told all of the grandkids, nieces, and nephews that this was his special stick to make it rain. He had a little dance he did with it..I wish we would have videotaped him doing it. What a treasure!
Prairie Roses and Barbed Wire Art
When he retired, he kept busy. One of his hobbies was barbed wire art. In his younger years, dad was a barbed wire collector. Because of this, he had an abundance of barbed wire. I’m not really sure where he got the idea, but one day he decided to start making barbed wire art to give to family and friends. Here are a few examples of his art:
Dad also used his barbed wire to make “prairie roses”. He picked thistles out at the lake, spray painted them, and attached them to barbed wire stems to make his prairie roses. I believe he was the most proud of these, and we all loved them. My oldest son used to do photography, and he named his business Prairie Rose Pictures as a nod to his grandpa.
Always There…
No matter what, my dad was always there for us. Flat tire? Dad was there. Ride needed? Dad was there. Question about ANYTHING? Dad probably knew the answer.
Simply the Best
As I previously mentioned, dad knew all of the good fishing spots. He also knew the good spots to find morel mushrooms (a secret he unfortunately took to the grave). He had an eagle eye and could spot a bird in a tree or a deer in the brush from quite a distance.
My dad loved the lake. As a matter of fact, I think one of the reasons he agreed to his job transfer was because he knew the potential transfer town had a huge lake just outside of the city limits. After we moved to El Dorado, he was so proud to take visitors for a ride around the lake each time they came. When he passed away from cancer at the age of 82, we asked that his memorial donations be made to the Friends of the El Dorado Lake foundation. He truly was a friend of the El Dorado Lake, a great dad, and a friend to all.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEITH HOLMES!
