Today is my father's 60th birthday!
Birthdays are always a big deal in my family: since Dad's and mine are thirty years minus two days apart, we've always had joint celebrations (7 & 37, etc). The fun lasts the entire month of February, and Mom's is all July long. This year is 30 & 60, and I'm more grateful than ever to share it with him.
To celebrate this day and how many people my Dad has touched, comforted or just plain cracked up, I'd like to extend this challenge to you: Leave a comment here today with a fond or funny memory you have of Timbo. I love hearing stories about him, no matter how ridiculous. I'll read them to him when I talk to him later tonight.
There are so many for me, from singing and dancing to Sam Cooke in the living room to pretending to ignore my aunt Violet's wheezing in her later years. But for today, here's mine:
Summer in Arkansas is one of the grossest things imaginable; the humidity is approximately a thousand percent. The moment you walk outside you feel as if a warm wet blanket is thrown at your face. The great thing about all this moisture is that your yard grows lush and green, but you have to mow it constantly. All that heat and moisture, combined with the rural land our house is built on, equals snakes. Lots of them. That's the other reason you need to mow frequently- don't give them any more places to hide.
It's summer. I'm eight years old, maybe nine. Dad had been mowing for an hour and was loopy from heat exhaustion. Mom went out to relieve him and he sat down with a glass of sweet tea. Not a minute and a half later, Mom came running in the house, screaming and flailing her arms Muppet-style above her head. She had seen a garden snake in the mower's path and flipped. This was the conversation:
Mom: "TIIIIIIIIIMMMMMM! It's a SNAAAAAAAAKE!"
Dad: "Shiminey, Gloria, calm down. What did it look like?"
Mom: "Ii-i-it was green, and-"
Dad:"--you came screaming in her for a dang garden snake? You skeered me so much I thought it was a copperhead."
Mom: "I don't care, Tim, it's still a snake!"
Dad: "No, it's not, it's nothing. Just get back out there and run over it."
Mom: "OOOOHHHHHHHHH MAAAAAAAAAH GOOOOOOOD No! I can't!"
Dad: "Why the heck not?"
Mom: "Well, won't it jump up and try to bite me?"
Dad: "No, Gloria, he'll stand up and fight like a man. Now go."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tim and I worked alot together as house painters every day was a fun day. he could deliver a one liner and make me burst out and would be so serious about it just like the one above. We were having lunch at a hambuger place eating in the car. we were watching a stray dog looking for food. Next thing the dog had alunch sack in his mouth holding his head high to keep the sack from draging and running away as fast as he could. Tim just said "damn got his lunch and hauling ass"! That's a dog for you. Happy Birthday young Man. one day younger then me.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Tim,
ReplyDeleteRight out of high school, Tim and I decided to go to Idaho to visit my sister. We were going to take my old Chrysler, but the tires were so bad that you could see the air in them. Tim's car was newer, but had been having a lot of mechanical stuff go wrong with it. Since neither of us had a lot of money, we decided to take the tires off of Tim's car and put them on mine for the trip. We had to get them remounted for both cars, as the wheels were different on each car. Off to Idaho we went on Tim's tires, but my car. I wouldn't hardly go across the street now in that car, but at the time we were young and knew no fear. Oh, to be there again!!! When we got back to Arkansas we had to do the whole process in reverse.
My 60th birthday isn't until June, so I guess I can call Tim and Glen "senior citizens" until then at least. I can't believe the Russellville Class of 1968 will all be 60 before long.
Best of Birthday wishes to you Tim
Charlie Fox