Dad, Peace And The Front Porch Swing

Creak creak, creak creak, creak creak.

That was the sound of the double porch swing at Daddy Cecil and Mama Minnie’s country farm home. They were my paternal great grandparents and sweet, simple folk. I loved going to their house because there was a big gum ball tree in the front of the house, chickens running all over in the side yard, kitty cats everywhere, Daddy Cecil’s Juicy Fruit gum, Mama Minnie’s big fluffy biscuits made with the clabber she stored in the pantry lined with home canned food and, of course, the front porch swing.

Ah, yes, the front porch swing.

I spent many hours sitting on the front porch swing. I still think of that swing as one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever been. So when I was thinking about Dad today, I also remembered the porch swing.

Nice Memories Of My Dad

Four years ago I lost Dad to the wicked disease of cancer. I think of him all the time, so I thought I would make a list of some of the things I like remembering about Dad.

• Dad always smelled like Old Spice.
• The floppy curl in front of Dad’s hair was like Elvis Presley’s.
• Dad was handsome.
• My dad was not a handy man. As a matter of fact, he broke stuff if he tried to do anything handy.
• Dad loved good food.
• Whenever I needed to vent, Dad listened without criticism.
• Dad walked with a lanky stroll.
• My dad was a tall man and always trim.
• I always thought that Dad’s curly chest hair made him look manly. LOL
• Dad loved to have his back and ears tickled. He would give me a quarter if I could give him a cold chill while tickling him.

I enjoyed flipping through the photo albums today in order to find a photograph to share with you on this post. I walked down my childhood memory lane and it made me miss Dad even more than usual.

Even though Dad is gone, I’m still blessed to have Mom who is alive and kicking.

Today I called Mom to tell her that I melted the tube on her asthma machine. Don’t even ask how I did it because it was one of those non-thinking moments. Anyway, as I listened to her talk, I thought about how blessed I feel to have her as my mother. So I just want to say that I love both my parents so much and I’m very grateful that I was born to them.

Wherever you are Dad, I’m still missing you.