I Love You

I was crying yesterday, and Sally told me something that helped me stop. She said find those memories in your head that remind you of all the great things about Daddy. As soon as I hung up the phone one popped in my head. Something I haven't thought of since it happened. I am writing this for me and my sisters. And will periodically write into the blog any thing I think is important regarding my dad. Hopefully it will put a smile on my sister's faces and maybe one day Solon can read and understand how great my dad was to me.

I turned 21 years old the day before my dad and I loaded up all my belongings to head to DC where I planned on interning for a year. We had discussed me just finding a furnished apartment, but my mom knew me better. She knew I was prone to being homesick and told me that there was no way I was living somewhere without all my things. My bed. My futon. My cheap bookcase. My stereo. My Monet poster. And my dining room table/card table. My dad always had more faith in our beat up old cars than I did. He was sure that our 1987 Ford Ranger pick-up would make the 800 miles up there and back. So we set off early one morning with the Uhaul hitched to the back. We drove for several hours and then in Eutaw, AL...KAPUT. The engine started smoking, and we were stranded on the side of the road. We grabbed the only two important things in the car (his Marlboro Reds and my brand new laptop) and started walking to the next exit which was several miles away. We came upon a small town and meandered our way to a little old car repair garage. My dad called his younger brother, Bill, knowing he had a truck and asked if he could come rescue us. So we sat in this little room while our truck was hauled in and waited on Bill. I remember my dad bragging to the woman behind the counter that I was heading to DC to work for an architecture firm, and she did a double-take. She said surely I wasn't old enough. She thought I was 14. Hours later we were on the road with Bill and Vanna (after a stop at a truck stop to grab some food). We got back to Millcreek late but determined. We woke up early the next morning and headed to the Uhaul store. This time to get a mover truck. We brought it back to the house and unloaded the trailer and reloaded it all into the truck. And then....on the road again. We drove and drove. The AC was out and it was August, so we had the windows rolled down. The air whooshing in created so much noise that we couldn't hear each other talk. One of us would yell something and the other would nod. Knowing full well they didn't understand you. I won't ever forget the image of my dad sitting there driving and smoking his cigarettes. By midnight we were worn out and decided to pull over in Bristol, TN to find a hotel. BAD IDEA. It was NASCAR weekend and the guy behind the desk laughed at us and said no way are we going to find a room within hours of us. Could we sleep in the parking lot??? Sorry. We can't allow that. So we got back into the car. After about an hour, I saw a little sign saying 'Buena Vista' and told my dad that it looked like such a small town that we might be able to find something. And we did. A little 5 room motel. Our room was so 1970s and ugly but we both flopped onto our beds and passed out. I remember waking up and standing out in the parking lot with my dad. It was a beautiful day, and I asked him one of the many hypotheticals that my sisters and I always threw at him. "Daddy, do you think someone would have stole all my belongings in the Uhaul if I hadn't had the padlock on the latch?" I don't remember his answer, but I am sure he said "naah, you don't have anything worth stealing." We got back on the road again and arrived at Leigh and & Imad's place in Crystal City. Trying to find a parking space was tedious, but we made it! That night Leigh and Imad took us out to eat in Adams Morgan. Guess where. Meskeram's! An Ethiopian restaurant. Where you have to eat the food with your hands. I looooved it. I felt so big and cultured. And my dad actually enjoyed it as well. My dad and I also went and found my office on Pennsylvania. This was pre-cellphones, and I know exactly what pay phone we used to call my mom and tell her we were standing in view of the Capital and in front of where I was going to work for a year. He was so proud. Anyway, this is where I was going with this story. Because I remember all of this in great detail. It was the last bit I forgot. We put all my things in a rented storage unit and returned the Uhaul, so my dad was going to fly back to Jackson. I took him to Union Station so he could catch the Metro to the airport. I hugged him goodbye and of course started crying. I knew I was going to be gone a long while and it was such a big scary time in my life. And I can never go without crying when I say goodbye. My dad saw the tears coming down my face and hugged me again and turned and started walking away. Holding his brown duffel bag. And he didn't look back once. And I just stood their crying and crying. He called me when he got home and the first thing he said to me was.."Sweetie, I didn't turn around to wave to you because I didn't want you to see me crying."