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Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Sept 10

my dad's birthday was monday. he would have been 89. that sounds pretty old now. he hasn't been around since 1991, which is also hard to believe.

my biggest disbelief is that he was gone before my kids were born. i like to imagine what he would think of them. i'm sure they would drive him nuts, but he would be crazy about them anyway.

i didn't want to have kids as late in life as my dad. i was born when he turned 49, and he wasn't exactly pedaling around with me in a trailer. but, make no mistake, he drove me and my brother to just about the ends of the earth so we could do our thing. he made us breakfast before the sun came up. he was our personal alarm clock and pack pony. all without saying more than 10 words a day.

i write this as eli is keeping us up yet another night, as he has nearly every night of his short life. i'm guessing now that i did the same to my dad. kept him up nights. ruined his carpet. broke his expensive knick knacks. spent his coin collection. kept him up worrying where i was. wrecked his car.

i guess that's just what dad's do.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah I agree, my dad passed away when I was 13 (1982).
Now that I am a dad, the tables have turned "...that's what dad's do" is pretty profound!
Impacting a (your) kids life in a positive way, by being an active parent is as rewarding as it gets!

Alicia said...

Hey this is Ozenberger's wife - I totally get what you are saying. My Dad died in 1997. I got married in 1998 - so he missed that. I often wonder what he would think of Dillon. He also was a big support for me and my brothers, like your day, with few words. This post made my day!
Alicia

Pedal Brake Pedal by TK said...

thanks for the comments. these things remind us how important we are in shaping the little one's lives.