My dad is incredibly unique, in a good way though. There is no one quite like him and if you have meet him, I am sure you will agree. He always has a lot to say in a very animated way. He is bound to bring laughs to those he is attempting to entertain. When I know one of my friends is having a bad day and needs a laugh, I know that a story about my dad will be the fix for her. One moment that comes to mind happened not that long ago. My mom's cousin Don, his wife Dianne and their son Danny stopped by for a quick visit. My dad had just arrived home from working for the day at a friend of his. Apparently, my dad's hearing loss got the better of him that day. Clarence, his friend, had placed a flower pot out on his lawn. My dad thought he understood that Clarence wanted the pot taken to end of the laneway. So my dad took the pot to the end of the lane and came back to find Clarence looking for his flower pot. What Clarence really wanted my father to do was to check for the newspaper that lands there when it is delivered. One just had to hear the way my dad described the event. Everyone had a great laugh at my father's expense and he didn't seem to mind. My father certainly has a gift for telling a story, some maybe short but most are tall tales.
Well, for some strange reason, flower pots seem to have a way of finding a spot into my father's life in a comical manner. Although, I can assure you all, my father, would not see it quite the same as I do.
Many many years ago, when I was about 8 or so, my parents had purchased 5 tickets to the Garden Brothers Circus at the KW Aud. My sister Kris, my cousin Melissa and I were going to be in for a big treat that day. This was the day that my father, inadvertenly, unbeknownst to himself and those around him, joined the circus. After watching the trapeze artists, the horses, elephants and lions, tight rope walkers, it was time to bring the clowns. No, my dad, did not become a clown. As much as my father can get rather silly on occasion, he is hardly clown material. Rather, what did occur, involved my father's interaction with one the clowns. With the spotlight on him for all to see, the rather jolly clown, asked my father to get up from his seat and stand in the aisle. The clown proceeded to hand my father a big flower pot to hold while the clown sat down and his seat and pretended to have a conversation with my mom. The flower pot was to be a gift for my mom. The clown stood up to get the flower pot from my dad and then the comedy began. The clown and my father played a game of tug of war with the flower pot. To a few little girls, this was exciting stuff. Who would have ever thought their dad/uncle would have been in such a public spectacle.
He, also, could be considered the "Tim the Toolman Taylor" of Listowel minus the tools. For some reason, he finds the oddest ways to end up in the Emergency Room at the hospital with the weirdest of the injuries. These incidences as scary as they are, always have some humourous moments. The last time, he went to the hospital for a black eye he received from tripping over a bucket on a digger, he ended up being hooked up to a heart monitor and they wanted to keep him over night. But leave it to my dad, he insisted that he was fine and he was capable of driving the 5 blocks home as he was not drunk. Not really sure why he advised the nurse that he was not drunk....but that is my dad...lol
What else can I say about my dad......well, he is a bit of an outsider in our family. He is the lone Montreal Canadiens fan. Not sure what he is thinking by cheering for "Les Habitants". It should be the old blue and white that he should be cheering for. We, the rest of the family, seem to find ways to help him with the cause by supplying him with Canadiens memorbilia along with teasing him at the same time. Liam, my nephew, is an avid Leafs fan and finds it quite a hoot when the topic of the Leafs and Canadiens comes up. Also, he is the lone male in the family, other than my nephew. I think that might be the reason the dogs we have had in the family are male. He needs someone on his side. You have to give him credit though for having to put up with 5 females. Maybe having four daughters has been a good thing for my dad. We allow him to show his emotional side from time to time. I recall that when my sister Kris and I left for our Choral Tour to Europe, my father had tears in his eyes as we broaded the bus for Pearson Airport. On the other hand, my mom was so excited, I think she just about hopped on the bus to go with us. Around holiday time, my dad gets really sentimental and wants all of his family at home. I think that he got this trait from his father. My grandfather was huge proponent of holidays and family togetherness.
I don't want everyone to get the impression that my dad is always a comedian because he certainly has moments of seriousness. Actually many moments of seriousness. When one of us girls comes to him with particular matters such as car problems, he goes at them with a vengenance. Sometimes we think, he doesn't care but the next thing we know we are getting a call from him with his advice/instructions on what should be done. He was even one of the few dads that actually went on school field trips with us back in the day. He was a chaperone on a trip to a newly renovated dairy farm for my grade five trip and he went on a grade eight class trip to the Sky Dome with Kendra. He also likes to impart his wisdom on life in general to his daughters whether it is wanted or not. I strongly believe that he does this from the bottom of his heart and that is he proud of each one of us for our accomplishments. He may not say it in so many words as he is not one to share it with us. But each of us girls knows how important we are to him and how also important he is to each one of us. All of us has our favourite moments we have shared with him and look forward to sharing many more of these moments especially those with laughs involved. Thanks Dad for adding so much to our lives. And on that note, "Happy Birthday Dad"!
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