Memories Of My Father
Missing you today and every day
Although my father is no longer with us, I have so many fond memories of him. He was always so loving and supportive, and he made us laugh with his jokes. I cherish those memories and miss him dearly. But even though he’s gone, I know that he’ll always be with me in my heart.
This year is especially nostalgic as we have the same birthday and I am at the same age as he was when he passed away. There will be a day in the not-so-distant future when I am the same age, in every way, as him. That day is not a favorite in our family, as his father, my grandfather, passed 20 years exactly before he did.
Those weren’t the memories I’m speaking of. I’m talking about the ones where we laughed while he taught us life lessons about being a decent human being. He was always thinking about the impact of his actions on the other person. He was truly a kind, generous and loving person.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 23 years since my dad passed. It feels like only yesterday when he was still here, making us laugh and giving support when we needed it most. Time doesn’t so much heal old wounds as it really just tempers the sharpness of the pain. I still have periods of time, like now, where the sheer absence of his presence flavors my every thought.
Cork Ball
It is interesting which pleasant memories will stick with you. Unlike a traumatic event which overwhelms all of your senses at once, a wonderful memory for me seems to be linked to a singular sense.
One time my father took my brothers and I out to a local park to play “Cork ball”. It’s the only time I played, and I remember it so vividly.
The game is played by taking a wine cork and wrapping tape around the cork multiple times to give it weight and more semblance to a real ball. We used black electrical tape on this day. You pitch it like baseball and the batter uses a wooden broom handle as a bat. Without the broom, of course.
My brothers are identical twins and about four and a half years older than I am. So, at this point in life, they were more athletically inclined than I was. This didn’t prevent my father from including me equally in the game. He gave me the same time batting and…
