Dad. 8-5-11

I wish Boop would have been able to know my dad. It's a bit upsetting to think about...  At least, I'll have plenty of distractions this weekend.  

It's strange to think that I've lived longer without a father than I've lived with one. Anyone would tell you, we were two peas in a pod. He worked the night shift; so he was my primary caregiver while mom was at work. Dad and I were notorious for running around in our t-shirts and underwear in the middle of winter, eating ice cream with the heat cranked up; and then, in the summer, cranking up the A/C and covering up with piles of blankets. That was before environmentalists existed. Dad and I would go to Burger King and order 3 Whoppers and 2 fries. As little as I was, I always found room for that other 1/2 of Whopper. We split 50/50; I was 'Little Mike.' That was before nutritionists existed. He taught me to count by playing Poker. And I'm told he could stack a deck better than anybody they knew. That was before we knew Jesus existed. Unfortunately, he never imparted the art of dealing from the bottom to me. I did inherit his poker face, but not his tell: his nose! :) <I did learn an important lesson about gambling indirectly from my parents: You should never gamble when you're invested in the outcome.>

I did inherit his eye. I have more levels, right angles, plum lines, chalk lines than any human should own. Of course, like him, I usually don't need them. "It's not straight!" It's enough to keep you up at night! On the other hand, I did not inherit his, um, need to spend hours in front of the mirror fixing his hair. This is probably one that would have been good for me to pick up on ;)

I'll be curious to see how many of these interesting quirks will be inherited by my little Boop. Boop will probably wind up being like my mom--heaven help us! ;)