THE 9'S HAVE IT

It still amaze's me (and I really hate to use that word-"amaze"); wait, I just used my Thesarus and found a better word-"dumbfound" me that after all this time and each and every day that I still think about him and wish we could have that one last conversation.  But, really I do.  Everyday since Sept. 29th, 1986 I have a conversation with him like he was still here.  We could be driving in the car, or sitting at our kitchen table in St. Ann, or Richmond Heights sitting on the front porch watching who would drive up (or down) Ralph Terrace.  Or we could be standing in the driveway having that last game of "catch".  I'd see him do his crazy wind up like Dizzy Dean and tell me watch out, here comes his curve.  Really, he didn't even know how to grip a ball to throw a curve, let alone which way would the stupid ball go. But, it was him in his make shift way of trying to show me that he was something he wasn't. And all I really wanted him to be was himself. Not some corporate exec that made millions of dollars, or a computer geek that could hack his way into the Pentagon, nor even a world class chef. I just wanted him to be what he was the best at-my Dad.

Happy 99th. I love you,
Dan