Just wanted to give validation that is warranted. I played golf with my dad today. We play together a lot. Usually him, my brother and me. Mostly he loses. Today he won. It just so happens that my dad is a pretty amazing athlete. He earned 12 varsity letters in high school. He was all-conference in two sports in college. To the point where he's kind of locally famous. Anyhow, usually we have a beer after golf at the clubhouse. Today, instead, I said, hey let's go to [this quirky bar which used to sponsor semi-pro teams that my dad played for in the 60s]. Dad looked at me funny, but agreed.
We went, and in the back room they have this "wall of fame," which is a hand painted wall with a bunch of portraits of famous Boston athletes, plus the names of a bunch of local heroes written around them in fancy script. I knew my dad's name was up on that wall from being there before, but all the same I asked him, "you up there dad?"
Of course he gruffly answered, "well is should be!"
So we found his name, which is cool, but what's infinitely more cool is that, for a couple hours, we sat there looking at the wall and picking out names and I would say, "dad, what about this guy, who was he?" And dad would have a story about them.
Example:
Me: "Dad, Slimmy Lee, who's that?"
Dad: "Oh Slimmy, great basketball player, like a 2-3. Make a shot from anywhere. Nice guy, too. Funny story. One time in an off-season tournament. We were playing each other hard the whole game. One point he shoves me right in the face. I hear the whistle, ok I know I got foul shots coming. But next thing I know, our coach has picked up his folding chair and is chasing Slimmy around the court."
I could write 25 more of them, because we sat there having drinks and talking old school local sports for three hours.
Anyhow, I know sometimes in this thread we deal with loss. Often when I've asked, 'what can I do to help?' I've been told, the only thing I can do is to cherish the people I have. I'm told to take advantage while they are here. So for those of you who have said that, know that it landed. Without you saying that, today wouldn't have happened.
I contrived a reason to go to a different place with dad today. Today is a day I know. I will look back on when he's gone and be thankful that I had it. The reason I'll have it is because of you dickmittens.