Today is the second anniversary of the passing of my dad, Po. I simply can't blog about everything I want to because it will just take way to long but I want to jot down some things and remember him on this day as I do everyday. I will take one thing him and I share and run with that. My dad was a clown, by trade. He didn't have any formal clown training, it all just came natural. Here's a list of his supplies on hand at all times:
- Red Clown nose
- A Pack of imaginary balloons for the making of balloon animals
- Some sort of hat or wig
- A scarf of some sort
- His middle finger
At any given time the clown nose would come out of his pocket, the imaginary balloons would come out, he would blow up one long balloon, make twisty sounds and motions and BAM! A DOG! He would say. One year for Christmas I bought him a balloon animal making kit. He tried and tried but all we ever got out of it were a bunch of swords and pencils! Garage sale pile that went.
The scarf and middle finger were for his bird trick. He would ball up his fist and stick the scarf way down in his hand and blow real hard in his hand, the scarf would visibly drop to the floor and POOF (he would say) and then throw up his middle finger and scream A BIRD! It was my favorite magic trick of all times.
That was when I was in my late twenties. But earlier in life, during the times when you were embarrassed of your parents, the times they had to drop you off 5 miles away and you would rather not go out then to be caught having your parents drop you off, he would drop me off away from the movies but he would pick me up RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE THEATER honking and yelling my name, yep you guessed it, dressed as a clown. Wig, nose, blaring horn, the works. It scarred me, but you know what....for some reason I wasn't embarrassed because my dad was my dad.
He had to be the first person in Avery's life to make her laugh and would sit by her swing and just blow raspberries until she laughed, that was "his thing" the blowing spit thing all over kids. After Avery had to constantly wear a baby rain coat around him he finally was the first to make her laugh. Him and I got so excited I snapped a picture of it.....
There are so many more memories and a gazillion more pictures but I post the ones that make me feel close to him. Like when he used to cup his hand on my belly to listen to Avery, like it was some conch shell and he could hear the ocean. He swore he could hear her laughing in there.
Or how about when I gave birth to Avery and he HAD TO BE IN THE ROOM. They only allowed 3 people and he said we would rotate but he had no intention of leaving. Ok, so my dad saw the birth, I insisted he stayed by my head and the mere thought of him looking at my crotch was something that made me queezy but after an epidural who the hell cared?? So there he was, the second Avery spit out of me, cheering like I had just won the Superbowl!
January 21st 2009 was tough, emotional, heartbreaking day but the AWESOME 30 years of memories is what keeps me going. I inherited the red clown nose, which I keep in my purse....you know, just in case someone needs a clown. Oh and I have the imaginary balloon animals down pat. Who wants a dog? Or sword?
No comments:
Post a Comment