Ode to our Dear Fathers - Page 20

"From day one, my dad was my ride-or-die. My parents divorced when I was 5, but he never left my life. When I was an angry teenager, Dad recognized I needed more than just therapy. He started buying me concert tickets and drove me to any show in the city I wanted. When I was old enough to drive, I'd stay with him and go to two or three shows a week."

"He died of cancer in 2016. One of the best memories I'll always carry with me is he would stay up to gossip after every show. I'd tell him everything. Sometimes if he felt up to it, we would get late-night IHOP. Being able to be open and honest with my dad kept me safe and kept my relationships with others healthy."

-Anonymous

"My favorite memories with my dad were when we would go to the custom classic car shop he owned and work together. When it was just us, everything was so calm and he was happy and always joking. We would always go out for lunch, and later, a gas station snack. While most girls were going to the mall and painting their nails, I was changing tires and fixing alignments with my dad!"

-Anonymous

"My favorite memory is when my dad taught me how to drive. Every Sunday for a few hours when he could, we'd go cruising, listen to music, and talk. Being a daddy's girl who shared his birthday, it only brought us closer."

"There are so many good memories of my dad. He passed away 15 years ago. My favorite one, though, goes back to the summer of 1978. He, along with his brothers and cousins, installed an in-ground pool at our house, and they built a new deck. They built the pool in the sunniest part of the yard."

"The problem was, there was no entrance on that side of the house - just windows. We had to exit on the other side of the house and walk around it to get to the pool, and we did this for months. It was inconvenient, particularly when BBQing, and with two little kids, the onus was clearly on Mom to get a lot of steps in. One day, Mom was heading out to go grocery shopping. Dad asked if there was anything he could do while she was gone. She said, shortly, 'Yes. Put a door on that side of the house.'

"Well, I never saw anything appear as fast as that chainsaw! By the time the station wagon left the driveway, Dad was ripping through the wall. By the time Mom returned, the whole wall was gone, framing and all. She was shocked that he took her direction so literally! By nightfall, the framing was rebuilt, and the door was installed. Dad finished the rest of the work over the next few days. Despite the mess that needed to be cleaned up, we were all relieved by the new door and it served us well for many years."

-Anonymous