Thoughts of my Dad

One of my earliest yet most vivid thoughts are of my Dad coming home from work (Wilroy Mines, Manitouwadge, ON). At that time, I was the youngest and I had the priviledge of taking Dad's lunch pail when he came in the door. In the kitchen I would open it up and see what treasures were there for me, just me. Sharon and Mark were older and already had their turn at the lunch pail. Sometimes, I would get a new rock for my collection but on those special days, there would be half a jam sandwich, all wrapped up in waxed paper! I had hit the jackpot! Of course it spoiled my appetite for supper, but I didn't care, I ate it anyways. But later I had to sit at the dinner table for hours until I ate all my potatoes! Yuck! To this day, I don't enjoy them, unless they are homemade french fries!

Another memory of Dad was his coin jingling in his pocket. He always had enough change in his right pants pocket to make that magical sound. It would drive my Mom crazy though because he always had a pocket hole that needed to be mended! I've noticed that Joseph also likes to have change in his pocket. He's not shy about filling any empty pocket from Nannie's dish of change by her front door. Now Alex, on the other hand...he likes foldable money! We paid hom the 20 bucks he talked about on his Elmo phone last week. Papa made sure Alex got it folded just right so it would fit into his piggy bank!

How rich we are in memories which will last longer than the money in a pocket or piggy bank!

2 comments:

Lucie & Co. said...

When Dad worked at the Anderson Lunber Millk, I was always the first one there to greet him when he came in, and my favorite treat was the Vachon cakes he would buy at the nearby snack shop. Later, as I got older, I was the one who made his lunch for him. He always said nobody made them special like I did. Thanks for bringing back those memories for me on Father's Day.

bren said...

A day late and a dollar short I am :-).
my memories of dad were sitting up on the kitchen counter while he fed me octopus that he'd brought home from the officers mess. I used to sit with him in the kitchen and eat saltine crackers and dipping them in the special sauce of ketchup and worchestershire sauce that he would made. Has anyone else ever eaten cold mashed potatoe and ketchup sandwiches with their dad....
think I'll have to email dad and tell him these memories. thanks for the memories Berta!