Saturday Stuph - Remembering Dad ... Sharing Smiles ... and Happy Flag Day everybody

Scroll down for my 7th Smiley Saturday ;--)

This is my 5th...

This week's Saturday 9: Happy Father's Day Eve
Many of this week's questions relate to when we last saw, talked to or when we might next see our Dads. Since my father died of cancer in February of 1976 (when I was 30 and he 73), I thought I'd skip those ... so that leaves questions 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
I guess that makes mine Saturday 6 today!

1. How many siblings share your dad?
I'm the youngest of 3 kids ... my older brother died about a decade ago ... one month shy of his 65th birthday, so that leaves my sister and me. She's has been traveling the USA in an RV for the past few years since retiring from teaching. We connect often thanks to cell phones and we appreciate the free cell-to-cell minutes allowing for long conversations. Dad managed to find time to spend with each of us ... even when he worked LONG hours.

2. Do you gift him gifts on Father's Day?
As kids, the gifts we gave Dad were things we made ourselves because money was scarce. Once I had a job, I always bought gifts for him on Father's Day ... usually something I knew he'd love to have but never buy himself.

3. Have you ever had a tough time in your relationship with your father?
I don't remember any tough times or difficulties getting along with dad other than his 'typical fatherly concerns' about his teen-aged daughter 'dating' ... and even then he simply expressed them without being overly intrusive.

4. What was the last thing that you did with your dad?
Ah ... the last thing I did was to sit at his bedside and tell him he could die after all ... that we'd all manage somehow without him. Two & a half months earlier ...(at Thanksgiving)... he asked me to sit with him in the kitchen then proceeded to tell me how he'd lived a good life and I shouldn't 'be sad' when he died. My response was vehement! I told him to stop talking about death and reminded him that his dad lived to be 105 and I expected no less from him! (Denial WAS our family's way of dealing with 'stuph' like this ... and I learned it well from my mom). After all, I was only 30 ... much too young to lose a father to death, and he was young in heart, mind, body, & spirit! At that time he'd not yet seen a doctor but somehow knew what his symptoms meant. Interestingly, he 'hung on' long enough to give us all time to 'process' our impending loss and come to terms with it. Watching his health deteriorate over the next couple of months convinced me I'd been wrong ... and having the opportunity to apologize and thank him meant a great deal. He passed within hours of this conversation while my sister & I drove back to California, so I'm convinced he was waiting for me to come around.

5. Growing up, was your dad tough on you?
I was the proverbial 'apple of my dad's eye' and we shared a uniquely close relationship. He'd been ill and was out of work when I arrived on the scene ... and my mom let him provide 'primary care' for me while she busied herself with my older siblings and household matters. I have memories of those early years ... one of the most vivid is of him teaching me to turn a somersault on the front lawn. Later in his life I spent many an hour listening to baseball games on the radio with him while sorting through coins ... searching for the ones he needed to complete his collection.

6. Are you close to your father?
I carry dear memories with me and think of him daily ... so yes, even though it's been 33 years since that last day at his bedside in the hospital.

Click for other Saturday 9ers!
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I'm a happy camper generally ... (being an eternal optimist seems innate for me) ... but in case you missed it, you can read all about my 'good news' in yesterday's Haiku Friday #47 entitled Anticipation.

In addition, I appreciate all those who visited and left comments last week. Pressed for time lately, I've found myself leaving 'group responses' in comments rather than individual ones ... though if your email 'comes through' I've tried to respond individually when possible. I've also tried to visit your blogs and comment there, but sometimes my computer locks up on me. I'm still confused about how Blogger handles this because I know sometimes the comments I leave on the blogs of others contains my email link (smallreflections @ gmail.com) and sometimes it's listed as something like (noreply-comment @ blogger.com). This happens with comments others leave me as well. I wish I understood how this works.

I'm saddened this morning to learn of the sudden and unexpected death of Tim Russert and the continued flooding in the Midwest ... my heart goes out to all those affected by these (and other disastrous & war-related) events and my prayers are with these families as well.

During the week I came across two upbeat links I'd like to share with all today ... Clean Jokes (that made me laugh aloud) and Amazing Creativity (leaving me wondering at the imaginative potential of the human mind). I hope you have time to check them both out because they're wonderful ;--)

If you missed any of the links in my Smiley Saturday post of last week (and have a bit of time to sit a spell) ... I hope you'll check them out today.

Click for others participating in Smiley Saturday this week.

Happy Flag Day everyone!
Click to read Kwizgiver's excellent post with
historical information on the subject.

Thought for Today
"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it." Clarence Budington Kelland