Join me in a toast to my late dad...
Last edited Thu Oct 8, 2015, 05:03 AM - Edit history (1)
I learned how to save any pennies I got at an early age. As I grew a bit older, those pennies became dollars.
I remember so many times in the early 60's, when Dad would come to me and ask to borrow $10.00. It was always on a Tuesday night. Money was tight for my parents, and he didn't usually have an extra $10. in his wallet.
His reason? He needed that money on Wednesday to lend to one or more of his co-workers, so that they could make it through to Friday. They always paid him back...and me too.
Every now and then, he would tell me to clean out my closet. Someone he worked with was down on their luck, and they had a daughter a little bit younger than me. "Find some clothes you don't want anymore", he would say. And I did.
My dad worked anywhere from 40-60 hours a week when my brothers and I were young...just to make ends meet. As the years went by, and the finances improved, I think he did the same, just so someone else didn't have to.
On Tuesday, October 8, 1974...the alarm clock rang. Time to get ready for work. I guess he decided he didn't want to go in that day.
His last words, as he hit the snooze button, were..."Aw, damn it", which I find much comfort in, believe it or not.
He was just 61 years old. He had worked since he was 13. At the funeral home, many of his co-workers lined up. They thanked me for the loans, and for all the clothes their daughters got to wear. Some were teary-eyed. He must have told them that it came from me.
As a girl (with 2 brothers), I was the one to share a brew with my dad. He showed me how much better German beer tastes. 
So, anyone out there with a bottle...join me, have at it.
I miss you, Dad.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Those with bad dads excepted.
I lost my dad when I was a junior in HS and missed him at many important times in my life.
I think I kind of suppressed his loss at times. And it was a silly, simple thing that brought him back. When I caught the scent of some guy wearing Old Spice Aftershave. That gave me a major flashback which continued for some time...
I never got to hoist a brew with my dad, but I'll raise one to him now. And to your dad, and to all the good dads. 
A lot of us males remember with chagrin our own over-application of what the ads assured us were seductive colognes in our teen days. 
I remember hearing a scream from the bathroom one morning and discovering it was only my dad, who in his grogginess had grabbed the tube of Brylcreem instead of the toothpaste...
At work at the plant, dad had adopted a stray dog which he named 'Myrtle' and mom would regularly pack a sack of bones for dad to take to Myrtle. One day the sacks got mixed up, and my older brother was shocked when he opened his lunch at school, wondering what he did to make mom so mad that she'd give him only a bag of bones for lunch.
And we have those food connections. Something I started doing long after losing my dad, who would spread a newspaper on the table and share his kipper snacks (canned smoked herring) with us kids.
Mom lived a lot longer, but when she passed I began making PB&J sandwiches for the first time in decades. And her hamburger soup, and liver and onions. But not her steaks, which she cooked down to shoe leather. Definitely not her steaks.
Gott in himmel!
Yes, I googled.
http://www.wachauer-marillenbauer.at/cms/website.php?id=/de/produkte.php
Seems you raised a good one.
Here's to your terrific dad.
And to you.
and their kids
I salute him!
He died in August, 5 years ago.
Here's to your old man, and mine.
I bet they are playing sheephead together, in the great beyond.
hoisting a pint in his honor
-- Mal
I don't drink beer anymore
but if you'll allow me, I raise my glass of Cabernet Sauvignon in your father's honor.
Sounds like you had a great dad. And sweet memories.
"Aw, Dammit" all: A toast to Contrary1's dad!
