Daughter

My father was a travelling sales man for a company called Saint Louis Music for many years selling violins, guitars etc. I used to accompany him on “take your daughter to work day” every year until I was probably about 13. We’d visit different music stores and talk about why each instrument and store was special. I remember one store had a sign in it that said “La dee fucking da”. I was eight and thought it was pretty funny. We went to a hot dog place called Mustard’s Last Stand, which is where he first used the name “Willis”, at least in front of me. I laughed at that too. He loved to play organ and keyboard and was in a popular band back in the 1960s called The Cat’s Meow. He had several crazy stories from that time period that you only got to hear if you were extremely lucky. Every year wed go to Gunther Toodys for Fathers Day. Willis had my brother and I every other weekend as kids. We went golfing and snowboarding. We went to the swimming pool and had family dinners every Monday at Carrabbas or Fuddruckers w/ my mom back when they got along. When I was 10 he and I had “daddy daughter” date night every Tuesday until I turned 12- that was when he was diagnosed with a preexisting liver condition and I asked to live with him while he received treatment. When he was sick I used to lie in bed with him to keep him warm. I would continue to live with him for another 6.5 years after that. When I was 12 we also went to Italy together. He liked to say things like “Kenny G is playing out of key” and “I’m trying to navigate a smooth landing”. He took me to my first job interview, bought me my first car. When I went on my “first date” with a boy he sat a few aisles back in the movie theater and threw candy at us if he thought we were holding hands. He attended my cello and piano recitals; my school plays, sporting events, graduations. He took me to be a judge at battle of the bands at Red Rocks when I was 12, and several concerts after that. The first cd he ever bought me was Thriller. He even visited me in Australia. I showed him where I had studied abroad with the money his mother had left for me. I recently received my Masters degree in Music Business. Its fitting really because my father was the most influential figure in my life. I recently had a flashback- an early memory back in Chicago of my father holding my hand when I was falling asleep. I think I had just had a nightmare about E.T. or something. Anyway, for those of you who don’t know, I was with my father for his last moments holding his hand. He’d been unconscious for days but that day, for those last 5 minutes that I managed to make it. He opened his eyes, looked at me for a few seconds, and then his whole body relaxed. That’s who my father was to me.

Contributed on January 17, 2014 | View Entry