Gifts from my Dad

My dad and me, his last visit to Disneyland. late 1990s. We had a wheelchair for him and got to jump all the lines! He loved the roller coaster in Toon Town, all his heart could handle at that time. He pleaded for a second ride.

Yesterday was the anniversary of when my dad passed. It doesn’t seem 24 years since, yet apparently it is.

Over the holidays I felt incredibly nostalgic, maybe this being my first holiday season as an actual European resident. I was very grateful to have love all around me and wonderful moments to celebrate, very much appreciating my sense of family here.

Yet there was a sad longing ... one for my childhood and being with just my parents and siblings, when life was so very simple. It may have had to do with this 4 January day approaching.

The other day, it was quite windy and chilly and, the perfect time to chat all of this up with my favorite trees. What we decided together, was for me to think about - then write about - my favorite gifts from my dad, whom I called Daddy.

In fact, I don’t remember any hand-picked/hand-wrapped gifts - never mattered. The intangible gifts between us were priceless anyway.

I adore carousels. When I was really little, there were carousels with still horses, and I always chose them, I was afraid of the others. Once my dad encouraged me to ride a moving horse, he promised that I might really like it! He stood right there to hold me the entire time. I did in fact really love it, and we both wondered why I waited so long to try a moving horse!

My dad adored Disneyland. Over the holidays I watched YouTube videos of Disneyland in the mid-1960s, and learned what a kind human being Walt Disney was. I think my dad really admired him for creating a place – by design - where parents and children could have fun together. Our annual summer visits to Disneyland as a family, are truly some of my very happiest life memories. What a gift.

My dad loved writing letters. And he had Wanderlust. One of my most precious possessions is a handwritten letter from my dad, when I was in Australia spending three months after graduating university. He told me all about news from home and at the end, wrote something like, I’m so happy for your travel experience but I miss you and can’t wait for you to come home. Still old-fashioned, I guess. His printing was perfect, and I love that I get my good penmanship from him as well.

We loved our dachshunds. We used to laugh that my dad loved our dachshund Snoopy more than any of us. I had my own mini-doxie, Raudie, at one time and my dad adored him. One Christmas Mama knitted a blanket for him, and my dad did wrap that gift, actually, and the tag read, To Raudie, from your grandparents.

One of the true highlights of my life, was when my dad and mom came to see me teach a cooking class, at a big, impressive venue. They had reserved front-row seats and I told everyone they were my parents, that I learned to cook at home, etc. My dad was not one of my cheerleaders when I left my job in technology to start a catering business, which always hurt my feelings. After this class, people came to meet my parents and tell them how much they loved my classes, and me. At the end, my dad said to me, You’re really good. (I swear I’m crying as I’m typing these words.)

Yeah. Those were my favorite gifts from my daddy.

All these years later, I have lots of conversations about daddies and daughters with Antoine, the father of my precious goddaughter. He wanted a daughter because daughters really love their dads, he told me. I told him that it depends on the dad, doesn’t it? He is absolutely on a tear to be that dad, doing extremely well at it, and Renata does in fact really, really love him.

While I didn’t share my dad’s passion for American football, we hope Renata will share Antoine’s passion for world football. A few years ago I took this foto of them and it will always be one of my favorites.