Saturday would have been my Dad's 66th birthday. Sunday was the 27th anniversary of his death. This horrible picture of a photo album from my Mom's will mean nothing to anyone but those of us who knew him.
He was spontaneous. He was funny. He was generous. He was kind. Tracey and I were his girls. Not once did he ever spank me - the only discipline I needed was the phrase "I'm so dissappointed". I still weigh decisions based on that phrase.
I wish I could hear his laugh again. I wish I could hear his jokes.
It was not at all unusual for him to call my mom and say pack your bags we are going this weekend. All of the pictures above are from that kind of trip. Cherokee, NC. Charlotte, NC. A theme park run. The mountains. Indians.
We camped. We boated. We laughed. We played and he played just as hard as any of the children.
He and his buddies fished and hunted and drank. They gigged frogs. Set trot lines. Threw out fish baskets. We ate venison and frog legs and tons of catfish.
There were always people around us. I grew up knowing that he was the life of the party. We raced - dirt tracks and drag strips. Long before NASCAR was the "in" sport of the southern redneck crowd. I was on a first name basis with some of the drag racing greats - Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowny - and oh so many more.
He maintained cars for the rich in our area and the poor too. More than once he picked a buddy up who had indulged a bit too much. There was no judgement in his daily actions. His personality saw no boundaries at all.
He taught auto mechanics at the Tech School in Athens. There were no boundaries there either. Male - female - race - economics status. If you were capable of learning, he was ready and willing to teach.
I learned so much from him about how to treat people. I learned so much from him about forgiving when you are treated unfairly yourself. I remember those lessons daddy ..
I remember.......
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