Swoonworthy

Today is my father's birthday.  He would have been 83 years old.  This is his senior high school photo.  I wish I had known him when this was taken.  He was always so handsome! He would have been a dapper old guy!




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2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Sorry, no post on this day.
2018: Decade Of The Stache
2017: The Good Old Days
2016: A Little Birthday Pomp
2015: Lone House On The Prairie
2014: Squeezing Through The Backroads
2013: Waves Of Steel
2012: Forever In Bloom
2011: Ed Visits His First Warehouse Store
2010: HBD 143
2009: Eddie Hauls Laundry The White Trash Way Friday
2008: Sun Setting Over Lake Pontchartrain
2007: Sanchez. Pedro Sanchez.
2006: Remembering Those In Heaven
2005: The Line Of Gold Thread

Before I Came Along

My mother and father, early sixties, in my grandmother's living room in the Bronx.  Look at the plastic on the couch!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2023: Sorry, no post on this day.

2022: Sorry, no post on this day.

2021: Sorry, no post on this day.

2020: Sorry, no post on this day.

2019: Confounding Celtic Yard Art
2018: On The River
2017: Reaching The Boiling Point
2016: Any One Will Do For Doo
2015: A Lazy River Surrounding A Big 'Ol Lazy Pool
2014: A Successful, Safe, Million Mile Driving Man And His Timepiece
2013: In Hot Pursuit
2012: The Spotlight Isn’t Just On The Community
2011: The United States Of American Cheese
2010: Waiting
2009: My Mother The Jihadist
2008: Perfectly Reasonable Defense
2007: Provocative
2006: Sidewalk Sushi
2005: $4,000 Worth Of Tupperware

Decade Of The Stache

My father passed away in 2006.  Had he lived, today he would have turned 77 years old.

This picture of him is from the early eighties.  As if you couldn't tell by the mustache.

Boy, I miss him.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2017: The Good Old Days
2016: A Little Birthday Pomp
2015: Lone House On The Prairie
2014: Squeezing Through The Backroads
2013: Waves Of Steel
2012: Forever In Bloom
2011: Ed Visits His First Warehouse Store
2010: HBD 143
2009: Eddie Hauls Laundry The White Trash Way Friday
2008: Sun Setting Over Lake Pontchartrain
2007: Sanchez. Pedro Sanchez.
2006: Remembering Those In Heaven
2005: The Line Of Gold Thread

Thank You For Your Courage

My father died 12 years ago but it doesn't feel like it was that long ago.  I think about him a lot, have things I'd like to ask him, photos I'd like to share with him.  I'd love to hear his voice again.  I had a voice message recording on my cell phone before he died but it was automatically deleted by the system.  I was devastated.

This photo was taken in November 1968 in our kitchen in the Bronx.  My father was wearing his blue post office uniform shirt.  My brother, as you can see, was only 2 months old.  I was 14 months old.  And yes, I was always that happy.  And my father was always amazing.

My brother now has three boys and I'm thankful he gets to spend today with them.  And I hope other fathers out there are taking the time to be with their kids and appreciating these fleeting moments.  They really are precious.

To all the men out there who have taken on the role of dad - Happy Father's Day!

As Barack Obama, and others in similar fashion, have said, "Any fool can have a child.  That doesn't make you a father.  It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father."



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2017: Live Bait
2016: Love County
2015: Razorback Storm
2014: Go About Three Miles And Turn Left At The Rocket
2013: Puffy And Distorted 
2012: A Woman’s Work Is Never Done
2011: Old Timey Road Trip
2010: Are You Ready For Some Football?!
2009: Hangin’ In The Sea Cave
2008: Weekend In Wyoming
2007: Ready For Nautical Knots
2006: Australia Isn’t Far Enough Away For These Bitches To Hide
2005: Texas Suicide

A Big Delivery

Today is my brother's birthday.  He's one year younger than I am.  In this photo of my mother and father, taken in 1968, my mother is pregnant with Michael.  He was born four days after this photo was taken.

Happy Birthday, Baby Bro!

  
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2016: Killing Two Birthday Birds With One Stone
2015: The Greatest Spectacle In Racing
2014: Fall Babies
2013: We Are Family! I Got My Brother And Me!
2012: The Highlight Of My Life
2011: Dream Big. Live Bigger.
2010: Always Merry When Around My Brother
2009: Living Outside The Touch Of Time
2008: Girls And Their Boys
2007: Living History
2006: Company On The Prairie
2005: Rack Eyes

The Good Old Days

This is a photo of my brother, my father, and me at my aunt's wedding in October 1974.  I was 7 years old, sporting my Dorothy Hamill haircut.  I'm also wearing a solid 14 karat gold heart necklace that I received for being a flower girl.  I still have that necklace.

Today would have been my father's 76th birthday.  Boy, do I miss him.  



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2016: A Little Birthday Pomp
2015: Lone House On The Prairie
2014: Squeezing Through The Backroads
2013: Waves Of Steel
2012: Forever In Bloom
2011: Ed Visits His First Warehouse Store
2010: HBD 143
2009: Eddie Hauls Laundry The White Trash Way Friday
2008: Sun Setting Over Lake Pontchartrain
2007: Sanchez. Pedro Sanchez.
2006: Remembering Those In Heaven
2005: The Line Of Gold Thread

The First Mustachioed Man In My Life

Today marks 11 years since my father died.  I think about him so often.  While I'm working in the kitchen, entertaining guests, making jokes, listening to music, etc.  He always creeps into my thoughts.

This photo of my mother and father was taken October 5, 1974, at my aunt's wedding.  He was 33 years old.

My sweet Daddy, I miss you and will always love you!




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2016: Cooking Is Love Made Visible
2015: Hawaiian Memorial
2014: We Do Not Remember Days, We Remember Moments
2013: Sharing The Long Haul Lifestyle
2012: Love, Peace, And Soooouuulll
2011: Taste The Fire
2010: Finally, A Shot At Playmate Of The Month! (Sorta)
2009: Remembering
2008: Eddie Gets His Eyes Checked Friday
2007: Shifting The Sun
2006: My Daddy Is Gone2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

A Night Out

My mother and father in my grandparents' living room in the Bronx, April 1966, a little over 18 months before I came along.

I love my father's skinny tie and tapered pant legs, and I love that my mother is wearing black leather gloves.  They look like they're headed out somewhere.



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2015: Hustle And Bustle In Ancient Guatemala
2014: The Flakes Got Up Early And Stayed All Day
2013: Headed For A Slow Boat To China
2012: A Roaring Forties Tasmanian Devil Of A Blue
2011: Waiter! There’s A Beer In My Soup!
2010: I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Wolf
2009: Eddie Getting His Licks Friday
2008: The Place Is In Ruins
2007: Winter Shadows
2006: The Angels Of The New York D.O.T.
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

A Little Birthday Pomp

This is a picture of my father from Junior High School.  Check out that pompadour!

I am not sure what age he was in this photo, but today he would have been 75.

He's been gone 10 years now.  It's amazing how the time has flown.  I think about him often and miss him when I do.







~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2015: Lone House On The Prairie
2014: Squeezing Through The Backroads
2013: Waves Of Steel
2012: Forever In Bloom
2011: Ed Visits His First Warehouse Store
2010: HBD 143
2009: Eddie Hauls Laundry The White Trash Way Friday
2008: Sun Setting Over Lake Pontchartrain
2007: Sanchez. Pedro Sanchez.
2006: Remembering Those In Heaven
2005: The Line Of Gold Thread

Vintage Beauty

My beautiful mother and handsome father in 1967.



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2015: Truck Yeah
2014: Break Time Selfie
2013: The Glories Of Our Journey
2012: The Herb Whisperer
2011: The Switch Between Morning Glory And Country Strong
2010: Name That Tree
2009: Getting Plowed
2008: Eddie Friday In Squares
2007: The Color Of Elizabeth’s Eyes
2006: The Result Of A Little Flax In Your Diet
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

Cooking Is Love Made Visible

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of my father's death - weird, calling it an anniversary. But that's what people do, don't they?  That's me with him in the photo.  I was two weeks old. He was 26.

I wrote about my father's Walnut Crescent Cookies a few months ago.  The poem by Naomi Shihab Nye reminded me of his recipe.  They were always a family favorite and my Aunt makes them to this day as part of her Christmas cookie lineup because my cousins request them.

This is the card that's been in my mother's recipe box for over 39 years, front and back.

I'm posting the recipe because so many memories of my father involve food and cooking. I mean, look at the picture - I'm two weeks old and he's feeding me - we clearly bonded early over a meal.

When I sauté garlic, make chicken cutlets, assemble a lasagna, or make a big pot of chili for Ed, I always think of my father. Sometimes I'll be driving and I'll think of something to do with my father, and before I know it, I have a memory that somehow involves food or cooking. It just happens.

So I know it's only a cookie, but it's my father's signature cookie, and it's a great way to publicly mark the day. 

You should make them.  They're delicate and delicious. I promise you'll love them.

Because like Julia Child said, "People who love to eat are the best people."

Get a copy for printing HERE.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2015: Hawaiian Memorial
2014: We Do Not Remember Days, We Remember Moments
2013: Sharing The Long Haul Lifestyle
2012: Love, Peace, And Soooouuulll
2011: Taste The Fire
2010: Finally, A Shot At Playmate Of The Month! (Sorta)
2009: Remembering
2008: Eddie Gets His Eyes Checked Friday
2007: Shifting The Sun
2006: My Daddy Is Gone
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

Happy Father's Day!

My brother and my father seeing me off on my first day of kindergarten.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: WARNING: Very Low Flying Aircraft

2013: Stop. Look. Read.

2012: You Won’t Miss Me Coming On This Bike

2011: An Extra Large Bargain

2010: Maybe You Can Learn A Little Something From A Few Truck Drivers

2009: The Fathers In Our Lives, Our Fathers Who Art In Heaven And The Father Of Our Country

2008: Who The Hell Left The Pool Float In The Sea Of Tranquility??

2007: Lure Me In

2006: Sometimes The Reasons NOT To Have Children Are So Very Clear

2005: U-Ta-Dah!!

We Do Not Remember Days, We Remember Moments

Me, my father, and my brother.  Trump Tower, New York City, October 1986.

Today marks the seventh year since my father died.  I was so happy to come across this picture today, because this is how I always remember my father.  Smiling.

This may not be the best quality photo, but this day was great, and this moment memorable.

I miss you Daddy.  Thanks for all the great moments.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2013: Sharing The Long Haul Lifestyle
2012: Love, Peace, And Soooouuulll
2011: Taste The Fire
2010: Finally, A Shot At Playmate Of The Month! (Sorta)
2009: Remembering
2008: Eddie Gets His Eyes Checked Friday
2007: Shifting The Sun
2006: My Daddy Is Gone
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

At The Drop Of A Hat

The only man I ever saw cry over a scene in a movie or TV show was my father. He would cry at a sad scene in The Waltons, a moving moment in Little House on The Prairie, or even a very touching Hallmark commercial.

He would have a tissue handy and if you asked him what was wrong he'd say, "Oh, I just have something in my eye."

It wasn't just movies and TV he'd cry over.  Emotional family moments, proud parent moments, tears of joy.  He didn't mind showing tears, but he was also a quiet sobber.  You'd see his body heave in a sob, but you wouldn't hear him.

Until he sniffled.

I'm just like him.  I cry at everything.  Just tonight I was watching a TV show that had me in tears.  Then I watched a movie that had me crying.  Ed was sitting right next to me, playing a video game, looked over and said, "There's something wrong with you." 

I cry weekly during Grey's Anatomy.  I even cry for the winner of Project Runway.  I'm emotional like that.

Unlike my father, I don't claim I have something in my eye, I just let it out.  But just like Daddy, I know to have a tissue ready.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2012: Passing Up A Little Afternoon Delight
2011: Annnnnnd…It’s Back On!
2010: Rise Early. Work Hard. Strike Oil.
2009: It’s All Connected To The Pigskin
2008: The Sorriest Team Drivers You’ve Ever Seen
2007: Ooooooo, A Contest!
2006: Modern Convenience
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

Even At 9,000 Feet Above Sea Level, He's Still A Handsome Devil!

Here's a picture of my handsome Eddie copping a squat at the top of Mt. Lemmon in Arizona.   

It's the same spot my father and I sat over 20 years ago to have our picture taken.  Look at my long hair!  Ed totally wants that back!  This is one of my favorite pictures.

 

Other than who I was with, my age, and the length of my hair, not much on the mountain has changed.  More pictures to follow...


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2011: Perfecting The Paillard
2010: This Beautiful Place
2009: If I Had A Horn, I’d Toot It. I Do Have A Blog Though.
2008: We Are THAT Good
2007: Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures
2006: Alabama’s Greatest Showplace
2005: Half Nekkid Thursday Virgin

Scenes From An Italian Kitchen

The scene at my grandparent's kitchen table, September 1962. 

I'm not sure why everyone looks so wiped out, it must have been a long day.  My uncles and my father (from left to right - Uncle Tony,  Uncle Augie, my father) look so Italian and so Guido in their white t-shirts, gold crosses around their necks, and slicked back hair.  Of course, I think my father is the most handsome of the group!  And my Nanny and Poppy (my mother's parents) look exhausted. 

But where are my aunts and my mother??  And where is the food??


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2011: Living Deliberately But Not Without Scars
2010: Maybe They Just Don’t Like Oklahomans
2009: Mexico? Derecho.
2008: Juxtaposition
2007: Eddie Sports Pigtails Friday
2006: Gambling Under The Big Sky
2005: Sleeping Beauty

Ed Visits His First Warehouse Store

Here's a picture of Eddie, looking very excited to be in his first warehouse store. Today the most exciting thing we did today (besides buying eight tubes of sunscreen for our Caribbean vacation) was take a tour of the local Costco.

As wonderful as it is to be among large volumes of just about everything, we don't really have room to shop like that. What am I going to do with three family size bottles of ketchup or a case of Cheez-Its?

We browsed, ate a few free food samples and then went to a regular store.

To buy normal amounts of stuff.


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1 YEAR AGO: HBD143
2 YEARS AGO: Eddie Hauls Laundry The White Trash Way Friday
3 YEARS AGO: Sun Setting Over Lake Pontchartrain
4 YEARS AGO: Sanchez. Pedro Sanchez.
5 YEARS AGO: Remembering Those In Heaven
6 YEARS AGO: The Line Of Gold Thread

Art Enables Us To Find Ourselves And Lose Ourselves At The Same Time

I recently acquired this drawing, which was done by my father in 1978; when I was in the Bronx a few weeks ago for a family funeral, my Aunt Rose (my father's sister) gave it to me. It was folded, in an envelope, among some old photos. As soon as I saw it, I knew I'd have it matted and framed as a gift for my brother.

I took it to Michael's craft store to have it professionally framed although this photo doesn't really do it justice. I wanted somethign that would fit with my brother's Tuscan-styled home. Something rustic, but not cowboy-ish or western, since it was an Indian. The frame is a dark, almost black distressed wood and the thick brown matting, when viewed up close, looks like weathered leather. The other two mats, the lighter brown and the thin line of black, really contrast beautifully against the old yellowed paper and the pencil strokes of the drawing.

I really don't know why my father chose to draw an Indian. My mother was into Indians for a while, so maybe he was indulging her interest, but whatever the reason, it was such a treasure to see and hold in my hands. My father sketched quite a bit and was responsible for creating the painted scenes on the two picture windows of our house each Christmas season.

I shipped it to my brother for father's day and I'm happy to report it was a hit, my brother really liked it. Looking at this drawing with its crease across the center and my father's signature in the bottom right hand corner, really gives me a happy feeling. And knowing that my father's art will now live on one of the walls of my brother's home, and be passed on to one of my three nephews, make me even happier.

Something else I got out of this framing experience (it's the first time I've had something professionally framed), was the fact that having something professionally framed exponentionally raises its beauty and appeal. Preserving this kind of work, especially since it was done by my parent, is very important to me. My mother is a very talented watercolor artist and I've always wanted to have her work framed in a similar manner, but have never done it. Seeing this drawing just sealed the deal for me.

** The title of this post is a quote by Thomas Merton, American Writer and Trappist Monk


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1 YEAR AGO: Even God Can’t Help Men
2 YEARS AGO: My President’s House
3 YEARS AGO: Don’t Give Up Hope If You Just Don’t Know What You Want To Be When You Grow Up, You Have Choices
4 YEARS AGO: Alright, Mr. DeMille, I’m Ready For My Close-Up
5 YEARS AGO: Stone Magnolia
6 YEARS AGO: Fitty Nine!!!

Old As She Was, She Still Missed Her Daddy Sometimes

Above, a photo collage of my father with me and my brother (click to make bigger). Below, quotes about fathers. Happy Father's Day to you all!!

“My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.” “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply. “We’re raising boys.”
~ Harmon Killebrew (American Baseball Player)

“A man knows he is growing old because he begins to look like his father.”
~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombian Writer, 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature winner)

“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.”
~ Charles Wadsworth (Classical Pianist)

“Becoming a father is easy enough, but being one can be very rough.”
~ Wilhelm Busch (German Painter and Poet)

“My son is my son till he have got him a wife, but my daughter’s my daughter all the days of her life.”
~ Thomas Fuller (British Clergyman and Writer)

“A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again.”
~ Enid Bagnold (English Writer)

“My Dad used to tell me that if they challenge you to an after-school fight, tell them you won’t wait – you can kick their ass right now.”
~ Cameron Diaz (American Actress)

“The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears.”
~ Francis Bacon, Sr. (English Lawyer and Philosopher)

“One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.”
~ George Herbert (English Poet)

“It is a wise father that knows his own child.”
~ William Shakespeare (English Dramatist, Playwright and Poet)

“A greedy father has thieves for children.”
~ Serbian Proverb

“A bad father has never a good son.”
~ Latin Proverb

“An angry father is most cruel towards himself.”
~ Publilius Syrus (Roman Author)

“My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it. I never did like work, and I don’t deny it. I’d rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh – anything but work.”
~ Abraham Lincoln (16th US President)

“No one would be foolish enough to choose war over peace – in peace sons bury their fathers, but in war fathers bury their sons.”
~ Croesus of Lydia

“I’m so ugly, my father carries around a picture of the kid who came with his wallet.”
~ Rodney Dangerfield (American Comedian)

“We never know the love of our parents for us till we have become parents.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher (US Congregational Minister)

“Children learn to smile from their parents.”
~ Shinichi Suzuki (Japanese Violinist)

“My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.”
~ Aldous Huxley (English Novelist)

“I wrote a letter to my dad. I was going to write ‘I really enjoyed being here’, but I accidentally wrong ‘rarely’ instead of ‘really’. But I still wanted to use it, I didn’t want to cross it out, so I wrote ‘I rarely drive steamboats, Dad. There’s a lot of shit you don’t know about me. Quit trying to act like I’m a steamboat operator.’ I know this letter took a harsh turn right away.”
~ Mitch Hedberg (American Comedian)


* The title of this post is a quote by Gloria Naylor, African-American Novelist and Educator


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1 YEAR AGO: Crafty Little Bugger
2 YEARS AGO: Beauty For A Buck
3 YEARS AGO: What My Thoughts Sound Like When Left Uncensored And Ultimately, Formed Into Words
4 YEARS AGO: New York Style
5 YEARS AGO: I.H.O.P.G.
6 YEARS AGO: Sorry, no post on this day.

Vintage Photo And Clothing

Back Row: My father, my grandfather (my father's father) and my Uncle Al (my father's brother). Front Row: My mother, my grandmother (my father's mother) and my Aunt Cookie (Uncle Al's wife)

The only people in this photo who are still alive, are my mother and my Aunt Cookie. On a happier note, my mother still has that top and it's GORGEOUS. There is so much beading, just wearing it adds ten pounds. The quality of the workmanship is unequaled. That top is older than I am!

I also love the men's skinny ties and shiny suits. Those were the days...


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1 YEAR AGO: Just How I Like It…Cold And Colder
2 YEARS AGO: Snagged
3 YEARS AGO: The Writing Is On The Wall
4 YEARS AGO: Eddie Waits For A Ride
5 YEARS AGO: Truckers And Travelers Know Good Food