LJ Idol Week 10, Prompt: craic
Jun. 14th, 2022 07:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mollywheezyWhen I was a little girl, my dad always tucked me in. I don’t remember if he ever read to me; reading to me was more of my mom’s thing during the day. My dad told me stories–about his childhood, about him and my mom, about me in times before I could remember. I always wanted true stories about our family, and my dad always delivered.
My dad told me how he met my mom in their college marching band. She was the band secretary, and when she called the roll, she called everyone by their first name but called my dad by his last name. He asked her about it. The list of band members had his first and last names reversed. Both names were misspelled, too, which he had her correct. My dad said after the first time he met my mom, he told his roommate he was going to marry her. My mom said she told her roommate she met this guy who was so persnickety about his name . . . Obviously, my dad eventually won her over.
When they were first married, my dad smoked, which my mom hated. He had smoked throughout college. My mom said my dad smoked in high school, too, but my dad never confirmed nor denied that statement. My mom hated that my dad smoked, and never allowed him to smoke in their home, but she wanted him to quit completely and hatched a plan. My mom made a bet with my dad that if she learned how to play Bridge, he had to quit smoking, and he agreed. My mom has always been an introvert and did not want to be part of a Bridge club. My extroverted dad always loved both Bridge (and other games, too–I grew up with us playing Cribbage together) and people. My mom’s fellow elementary school teachers taught her how to play Bridge on their lunch hour. She worked at it for months until she was secure in her Bridge knowledge, and my dad kept his part of the bargain and quit smoking cold turkey.
My parents still played Bridge even after I was married. They tried to teach my husband Arthur and I to play, but it didn’t take. We prefer ballroom dancing for our social activity.
On August 4, 2008, my dad had his first stroke, and I flew to Missouri from Alabama to help my parents. Thankfully my dad’s stroke was not a major one, and he was out of the hospital in only four days and was able to go to outpatient rehab. He started his CPA work again from his home office as soon as he was out of the hospital. He was not allowed to drive, though, so while my mom went to work at the stationery store where she was the assistant manager, I had the job of driving my dad to visit his clients. He had numerous things to drop off and pick up. I wondered why he didn’t fax or email things, but since I have always loved spending time with my dad, I didn’t ask. Throughout the week I drove my dad to visit his clients, I realized how much like him I am. I worked as a hospice chaplain and my dad worked as a CPA but we did the same thing for a living–drove around and talked to people. I inherited my extroverted tendencies from my dad. It wasn’t that he couldn’t email or fax his clients, he preferred having in-person contact, developing relationships with his clients and keeping the same ones throughout his long career.
Arthur and I are both extroverts, and we enjoy the same things, for the most part. I had often wondered how my introvert mom and extrovert dad made it work. (I knew they did make it work–they had almost fifty-five years of marriage) My mom gave in to playing Bridge in groups, and my dad prioritized in-person contact over modern technology. He always enjoyed people and never met a stranger. I’m thankful to have inherited that from him.
My dad told me how he met my mom in their college marching band. She was the band secretary, and when she called the roll, she called everyone by their first name but called my dad by his last name. He asked her about it. The list of band members had his first and last names reversed. Both names were misspelled, too, which he had her correct. My dad said after the first time he met my mom, he told his roommate he was going to marry her. My mom said she told her roommate she met this guy who was so persnickety about his name . . . Obviously, my dad eventually won her over.
When they were first married, my dad smoked, which my mom hated. He had smoked throughout college. My mom said my dad smoked in high school, too, but my dad never confirmed nor denied that statement. My mom hated that my dad smoked, and never allowed him to smoke in their home, but she wanted him to quit completely and hatched a plan. My mom made a bet with my dad that if she learned how to play Bridge, he had to quit smoking, and he agreed. My mom has always been an introvert and did not want to be part of a Bridge club. My extroverted dad always loved both Bridge (and other games, too–I grew up with us playing Cribbage together) and people. My mom’s fellow elementary school teachers taught her how to play Bridge on their lunch hour. She worked at it for months until she was secure in her Bridge knowledge, and my dad kept his part of the bargain and quit smoking cold turkey.
My parents still played Bridge even after I was married. They tried to teach my husband Arthur and I to play, but it didn’t take. We prefer ballroom dancing for our social activity.
On August 4, 2008, my dad had his first stroke, and I flew to Missouri from Alabama to help my parents. Thankfully my dad’s stroke was not a major one, and he was out of the hospital in only four days and was able to go to outpatient rehab. He started his CPA work again from his home office as soon as he was out of the hospital. He was not allowed to drive, though, so while my mom went to work at the stationery store where she was the assistant manager, I had the job of driving my dad to visit his clients. He had numerous things to drop off and pick up. I wondered why he didn’t fax or email things, but since I have always loved spending time with my dad, I didn’t ask. Throughout the week I drove my dad to visit his clients, I realized how much like him I am. I worked as a hospice chaplain and my dad worked as a CPA but we did the same thing for a living–drove around and talked to people. I inherited my extroverted tendencies from my dad. It wasn’t that he couldn’t email or fax his clients, he preferred having in-person contact, developing relationships with his clients and keeping the same ones throughout his long career.
Arthur and I are both extroverts, and we enjoy the same things, for the most part. I had often wondered how my introvert mom and extrovert dad made it work. (I knew they did make it work–they had almost fifty-five years of marriage) My mom gave in to playing Bridge in groups, and my dad prioritized in-person contact over modern technology. He always enjoyed people and never met a stranger. I’m thankful to have inherited that from him.
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Date: 2022-06-17 01:20 am (UTC)Good for your dad too, for keeping his word. People who keep their word are the best kind of people to be married to!
I hope you are enjoying your trip. :)
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Date: 2022-06-17 01:28 am (UTC)- Erulisse (one L)
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Date: 2022-06-17 01:51 am (UTC)Very true! And he always did.
Thanks! We are!
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