Five Random Memories of My Dad and Me

In honor of the Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life book tour, I thought I'd share five memories I have of my dad and me. These are totally off the top of my head.

1. Dad saved me. I was about 11, I think. We were always building something at my house and that year, Dad was finishing the car port. I was climbing up the ladder to go help when the thing slipped right out from under me. I had no purchase, but faster than thought, my dad grabbed my wrist and pulled me up.
2. Dad's retirement party. My sister Gina and I wanted to do something special for him to commemorate his 30 years in the state patrol. Since we knew Dad's favorite stories of his years there, we satirized them into the Really Real Stories of the State Patrol. Gina's husband, Chuck, played Dad. Poor Dad was totally roasted and loved every minute.

3. "Shall I keep her?" My dad loved to say this about my mom: "Isn't she wonderful? Shall I keep her?" "I love your mom--shall I keep her?" We used to get annoyed about it, especially when that really demeaning commercial came out with the tag line, "My wife--think I'll keep her." (Was it for shampoo?) You could not deny how much they loved each other.

4. Their 40th wedding anniversary. My mom is from Puerto Rico, and when they married, she moved "to the mainland" and made her home in Colorado for most of their marriage. On their 40th wedding anniversary, she went ahead to Puerto Rico for a couple of months to plan the renewal of vows and reception and be with her sisters. She loved it. At the reception, Dad got on one knee, gave her a new ring, and said, "You gave me 40 years of living where I want to live. It's your turn." They're debating about moving back to Puerto Rico.

5. "Coo-Coo!" When I was about seven, my best friend Vicki Gross and I were getting very silly and making up really bad jokes that we'd run and tell my dad. We told him the following while he was shaving, "What time is it, old witch? Coo-coo time! Coo-coo time!" then we ran off to tell my mom. As we headed back to my room, My dad leaned out of the bathroom doorway, like a cuckoo bird, saying "Coo-coo! Coo-coo!" We about fell over laughing.

Learn more about my dad and me--specifically our journeys in faith--in Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life


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