Mike?....Yeah I know him
Fathers Day is this Sunday. Makes you think about your old man doesn’t it? Well what can I tell you about my dad? He is a great guy. He has always been a pretty popular man. I can remember being about 9 years old and taking a trip out into Federal Way. It seemed like every place we stopped, at least two people would stop him because they knew him or knew of him. I’m serious. It was rare to rent a movie at Movies and More without him seeing 6 people that wanted to chat. This is back in the day when he still worked for the Federal Way News. Yeah he is a writer. So is my brother, my uncle, his brother, my other uncle, and his brother. Oh yeah, and their father as well. As you can imagine when they all get together there is rarely an awkward silent moment. I write, a little, but its more about putting chords and keys together to make sounds in my life.
So he currently works for the United Way. Basically, if I’ve got it right, he talks to rich old guys all day helping them figure out where they might like to see their wealth spread out. He has started to pick up his passion for woodworking in the past few years as his children have grown older and moved out…hooray! He actually made me a pretty cool little shelf for my digital camera the other day. When I was 10 my mom won me 100 bucks from the radio because they were playing the name game and my name happened to come up – seems like it was my middle name though. I never saw the cash of course; my dad went out and bought me my first Nintendo with it. I was a little mad at first because I had plans to buy a years supply of chocolate milk – but the Nintendo was my second choice. The funny thing is how we kept catching him in the basement with tired eyes playing Tetris in the dark. He’s upgraded his Tetris to his laptop, but I still catch him playing.
So what do we like to do together? We both like to golf – but I’ll speak for the both of us when I say its more about being outside than trying to hit that damn ball. He loves to fish, and my interest in it is growing as well. There are not many things I can think of that are better in this world then standing knee deep in a Washington river. Leave the cell phone in the car, and the ipod on its dock. Let the wind play the old song you forget to listen to most days. He has always been supportive of my music aspirations, like I’ve said my parents are my biggest fans. They bought me my first electric guitar at an auction when I was 14. I’m not sure I have ever been as excited as I was that night, honestly. The electric guitar is like my megaphone that lets me get past my mumbly voice to say loud and clear what’s on my mind- An instant friend.
I’ll give you one more story. I think I was probably 7, so that would make my sister 9. My dad called us out to help him pick up the yard. He called us over to an old damp pile of shingles from an old roof. I’m sure he was giggling on the inside as we started to pull them up finding dollar bills under each one. Well I’m not sure my sister caught on, or maybe I just wanted it more, so I started pulling up shingles like a madman. Fifteen dollars later I was ready go buy all the basketball cards I could. My sister held her 5 dollars and was pretty content, but my dad made me even it out- 10 bucks a piece. I’m sure I squabbled for a bit but fair is fair.
I love and admire my father.