The Birds have arrived safe in New Braunfels. Brainy Bird is out getting ice cream with my sister while they wait to check him in for camp, and Little Chirp is hanging out with Uncle Robert and Baby Huey. I am now able to relax and reflect upon all that is one my mind.
I am sitting on my back patio, in the same chair that I was sitting in this morning. Storm clouds rolled in a bit ago, and it started raining, big, heavy drops of rain quench the Earth’s thirst. I like the sound of the rain on the tin roof of the patio, and the distant thunder. I suppose it is even more humid now than it was this morning, but now there is a cool breeze. I love the rain.
Potatoe has both of his front feet up in my lap. I think he wants to protect me from the rain. Pumpkine is close by me as well. As long as she has someone close to her, she does not seem afraid. Her brother cats are both inside looking out the glass door to the patio. The rain shows no sign of letting up.
For the first time all day, I have time to sit and think. Today is Father’s Day. Seventeen years have passed since I spent a Father’s Day with Dad. Our last Father’s Day was the year that Brainy Bird was born. Brainy Bird was just a few months old that Father’s Day, and he was just six months and 10 days old when my father passed away that August. I have never gotten over the sorrow of how little time my father had with his grandson. Dad was enthralled with Brainy Bird. I do not understand why God gave Dad such little time on Earth with him.
Dad would have loved to be a part of our lives and the lives of his three grandsons in addition to his two grand dogs, and eight grand cats. Dad loved children, and Dad loved animals.
I can imagine how Father’s Day could be. Potatoe and Bentley would be running around the backyard working themselves into a frenzy. Baby Huey would be in Dad’s lap the entire day, until Baby Huey begged for a nap. Uncle Robert and Little Chirp would be in the kitchen cooking up a feast, and Dad, Brainy Bird, my sister and I would be sitting on the back porch talking about all of the possibilities of life. I wonder where Dad would want Brainy Bird to go to school. Dad would be certain that Baby Huey is already able to read and certainly headed to Harvard when he is Brainy Bird’s age. We would spend the day talking, laughing and playing cards and dominoes.
The love for cards and dominoes has passed through all four of the generations that I have known. My grandparents on both sides of my family loved to play. My dad was the ultimate lover of cards and dominoes; my sister and I also love to play, and both my boys love to play. There was nothing more exciting than beating Dad at a game of 42 back in the day, albeit rare that he ever lost.
The day would not be complete without a bit of Trivia Pursuit. Dad was unbeatable at Trivia Pursuit, but he would be impressed that Brainy Bird can hold his own with any adult in the game. Little Chirp and Dad would banter, and Dad would comment on how much Little Chirp’s takes after me with his whit and sunny disposition.
I do not think that we would talk about all that is going on in the world today. It is not that we would bury our heads in the sand; it is just that if we had a day with Dad we would embrace every minute of it, and we would know that there is so much more to talk about than hashing out everyone’s opinions on the world’s events, which we have no control over. Dad was a marine; he taught us to stand for the American flag, and he taught us to stand up for what is right. He taught us that all people are created equally. He also taught us about the injustices in our country because of race and economic disparity. He said that no child of his would ever discriminate against another because of the color of their skin or their economic situation; he believed this, and this is how he lived his entire life.
This August, will mark seventeen years since my father passed away suddenly of a massive heart attack. I still grieve for him as it were yesterday. I miss him. It breaks my heart to think about all that he has missed in this world. He would have loved to have been a part of his grandsons’ lives. I will never stop missing him.
Happy Father’s Day to you, Dad. I love you forever.