george

on this day in 1957, a great man was born. my dad. most daughters (i’m sure) think very highly of their fathers, and i’m no exception…but by no means do we fit the ‘daddy’s little girl’ stereotype. (that’s too lovey dovey to describe our relationship.) that being said, i do love my dad very much and i hope he knows that.  i am very much like my father in a lot of ways… we both share the same sense of humor and sarcasm, we love to sleep and share a love of reading, we both would rather hibernate in the winter, and we both like to laugh and have a good time whenever possible. (and this 'good time' usually includes (several) cold beverages in hand ). he has been a coach ('ba-boom the ball!'), a mentor ('no matter where you go, there you are'), an advisor ('it's not what you know, it's who you know') and a motivator ('let's turn it up a notch!') not just to me, but to my brothers and a lot of my friends.


growing up with george as my dad has led to many funny stories, here are two of my favorites:

the caterpillar. when i was about thirteen, my dad decided that the lower part of our backyard needed to leveled to allow for better drainage. instead of hiring someone to do it for him, he decided to do it himself. (this was his first mistake…) he then rented a caterpillar excavator to help him with the job. to be clear...he rented a machine that he didn’t know how to operate, to do a job he knew nothing about. (you can see where this is going…) my mom was working part time at a pharmacy and my little brother (daisy) and i were inside. i happened to glance out the sliding glass door and gasped…i saw the caterpillar perpendicular to the ground (tipped completely backwards), my father parallel to the ground (laying completely horizontal in the seat)...the treads of the machine were spinning like hell and mud was flying everywhere. i ran down into the backyard and he yelled (with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth) “you need to call someone!” i yelled back, “who?!” he said, “anyone!” I called a neighbor and explained the situation. the guy said he’d be right over, and was still laughing his ass off when he hung up the phone. it took a truck and several chains and ropes to remove the caterpillar from our yard. this ordeal had also completely ripped apart the area that george intended to ‘level’ in the first place...along with the rest of our backyard. (i was advised not to discuss the days events with my mother when she returned from work.)

RIT dye. my dad has worked in the garment business for most of his life. if you aren't familiar with RIT dye...it's a powdered fabric dye that you mix with water. it's powerful stuff. george thought, if you can dye shirts with this stuff...why not carpet?! (yes, carpet...and not an area rug, and entire formal living room of wall to wall carpet-from a light blue to a dark navy) he rented a carpet steam cleaner, got a couple of boxes of RIT dye and got to work. he mixed large boiling pots of dye and water on our stove and proceeded to dump them all over the carpet. then, he used the store rented steam cleaner to suck up the excess water (and dye). somehow it 'worked' (using that term loosely)...the carpet was now navy blue. (we couldn't walk on it for a week.) however, when we finally were 'allowed' to enter the formal living room again...all of our feet turned blue (an entire family of smurfs)...so did the dogs paws (and the cats). needless to say, he ended up having to rip out the carpet and replace it anyway. (i always wondered if the person the rented the machine after him got a little navy 'surprise' when they cleaned their carpets...a georgey special, if you will.) and a sidenote...he also uses RIT dye to color eggs for our easter egg hunts every year. (after the hunt...we cannot eat the hardboiled eggs because they are poisonous to consume. ie/eat an easter egg=death)

the man, the myth

these are just two of the many stories, i could actually write a book called "growing up with george: a memoir" loaded with many, many chapters of these crazy stories. (however, for now, i do hope you enjoyed these two.) so happy birthday big guy. you’ve been a wonderful father thus far, and thank you very much for all the laughs. also, i didn’t have a chance to pick up one of those creepy “daddy’s little girl forever cards”…so consider this it. cheers! (and continue to keep 'em guessin'...)