Happy Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day to those of you to whom it applies. I’ve been away all weekend, but I wanted to get this post up tonight, and I’d like to dedicate it to the memory of my stepfather.

My stepfather passed away last year. Due to some ridiculous circumstances beyond my control, there is/was a rift in the family and I had been out of touch with him for several years. He was part of my life much, much longer than my biological father, and I regret I wasn’t able to see him before his death.

When I think back about him, I have several memories. He was a very quiet person – an old school, strong silent type – kind of like Hank Hill without the accent. I rarely saw him express much emotion, although he did become noticeably more irritable for several months after he stopped smoking.

One memory that comes back to me because it was so out-of-character was one night driving back from a trip out of town. I was probably 11 or 12 years old at the time. My mom, my sisters, and I were all asleep when something woke me up. I heard something unusual and as I sat there in the dark, I realized my dad was singing along with some old country song on radio.

My step-dad wasn’t a big fan of music, preferring talk radio, but when he did listen to music it was always old country. For the life of me, I couldn’t tell you the name of the song he was singing that night. If I could, I’d post that. Instead, I’ve got Kris Kristofferson, which is the same era and style my dad enjoyed.

Sunday Morning Coming Down.mp3

Labels: country music

posted by aikin @ 7:58 PM