Tag: Dad

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Threads

When I was 14, I first saw the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it left the biggest impact on my life.

I’d find myself watching it whenever it came on TV, and sometimes I’d switch to my own copy on tape or disc if the commercials started to annoy me.

It was one of the films that my Dad would stop to watch as well.

Other films in that category are The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (or at least the final confrontation scene) and High Noon.

I noticed that Dad seemed to have the same admiration for High Noon that I had for Raiders.

After Dad passed away, I figured out that High Noon had come out when *HE* was 14.

So I’m left wondering if this movie had the same impact on him at that age, as Raiders did on me.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, man.

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Mays

Preseason, 1993, Giants Fan Fest (or what they held prior to Fan Fest):

They set up tables for autographs and I stood in a different line than my sibs.

After waiting in line for about 30 minutes, I left the line I was in and stood with my sisters in another line.

A few minutes later, the players started to come out and sit at the tables for autographs.  I can’t remember if we were in line for Darren Lewis or Royce Clayton.

The line that I had left?

Willie Mays started signing.

I was kicking myself (and continue to do so to this day) because I missed my chance to meet my Dad’s favorite player of all time, and possibly get a picture with him and an autograph for my Dad.

Later when I told my Dad what happened, he just kind of shrugged and said that it was okay.  But I was (and still am) upset with myself because even 31 years ago, Willie Mays was a big frickin’ deal to me.

He still is a big deal to me, even though I actually have no memory of seeing him play with the Giants.

Rest in Peace, Say Hey Kid.

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Crap Shoot

It really is.

You never know how you’ll react when a memory strikes you.

This is especially true on the anniversary of certain events.

I woke up knowing what today is, and felt oddly calm.

It wasn’t until I got up and walked past the spot where I found him 4 years ago that the feelings, emotions, anxiety returned.

And that’s all I’m going to say about this today.

Miss you, Dad.

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Post-Game

I have no memory of this, but when I was really little, maybe even before I was born, my Dad would play chess in the company chess club.  He’d play on Friday nights, and according my Mom, when he’d get home, late, he’d still be down in the living room or dining room, setting up a chess set, and studying it, looking where he made a mistake that cost him a match.  I don’t know how long he would do that, couldn’t be more than an hour.  Or two.

Flash forward to now:

We played Dungeons and Dragons online last night, and the first thing I do when I get up this morning is futz around on Roll20 and DNDBeyond, looking at my newly leveled character and figuring out how to make spells work correctly from the online Roll20 character sheet.

I did that for about 2 hours before I realized what time it was, and took a shower.

Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I guess.

* * *

I do like the online tools for D&D, but I miss face to face interaction.

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Designated Survivor, Season 3

Dear Dad,

I just watched the first episode of Designated Survivor, Season 3.

I think you would have liked it.  I wish you were here to watch it with me.

I miss you and love you.

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One Year Later

We lost Dad a year ago today.

This morning I went to the 7:00 am Mass at our church, along with one of my aunts, one of my nieces, and my sisters.  His name was mentioned along with the offerings.

Afterwards I had to go get a measles shot.

I was thinking of going to the movies this morning/afternoon but as I browsed the Cinemark site for tickets, I decided to just go on Mother’s Day, as I usually do.

After my shot I spent some time at Barnes & Noble, before heading out to visit my parents at the cemetery.

I was going to get lunch at a Fil Am restaurant, but I drove by I saw a long line outside, so I went home and ordered a bacon cheeseburger pizza and fries.

I fired up Vudu and browsed some movies, still not sure what I want to watch, if anything.  I guess I’m not in much of a movie mood today.

That’s me and Dad at the last Giants game that he attended, back in 2015.

Miss you and love you, Dad.  Sorry for the above picture where you’re eating a chicken sandwich.

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Ramblings

I finally watched Crazy Rich Asians.  Good movie.

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Clean up continues around the house.  More trips to Goodwill are planned in the future.

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The 1967 San Francisco Giants replay is finally finished.  I’m moving on to the 1939 New York Giants replay and continuing the 1917 MLB replay.

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February is right around the corner, meaning my birthday is coming up.  This year it falls on a Saturday, and will be our monthly Games Night.

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TNT has started showing Rogue One almost every other day.

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I’ve been feeling crappy over the last few days, so much so that I’ve skipped my daily elliptical for a couple of days.

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I forgot to get a haircut this past weekend.

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I really do fear commitment.