This is my Dad,he passed away this February. He was loving, kind, soulful, witty and always up to some kind of hijinks. He was a writer, a music lover, a forever tinkerer, an adventurer, a lifelong sailor and an ORGANIZER?? Who knew?? The following is a letter he sent to one of my sisters.....
I can’t let this deteriorating situation keep haunting me day after day, so I thought I’d explain the situation to you. It all started back in early summer when the company I work for awarded me season tickets to all the Redwings baseball home games. That is not the problem though. The problem is that the award was for having outstanding organization in managing the local store. Yes, you read right, an award for organization after a whole lifetime of being proudly disorganized. I tried to keep it quiet, but some big mouth mentioned it at our coffee break time at McDonald’s one morning. You should have seen the looks I got! No one said anything, they all just looked uncomfortable around me from then on. A few days later, one of the “boys” showed everyone his mismatched socks; one blue and one green. Everyone laughed of course, until I suggested how to partition off a sock drawer according to color. “You have a partition in your sock drawer?” said one. “You have a sock drawer? “ added another. “And a belt drawer too” I said. “you have more than one belt? “ they all said at once. Next thing you know, you’ll be telling us you have a closet of your own for shirts, pants and stuff like that. Then they all laughed until they saw me with a half smile and my head hanging down. When I finally gathered enough nerve to look up, I found myself sitting alone. Thank God, I didn’t mention the fresh coat of varnish on my work bench! After that, for awhile, whenever I stopped for coffee, I found that any empty chairs were being “saved” for “someone that was coming in a little later.” Later that week, I heard by the “grapevine” that some of the boys felt that I should leave the “Romeo” ( Retired Old Men Eating Out) group. So, it’s with a heavy heart that I have my coffee breaks by myself In the back corner. That’s not bad enough, but to add insult to injury, a couple of the women from a group that also get together there, noticed me having breakfast all alone, so they invited me to join them every so often when their group, aptly named WOMEN (Women Organizing Men’s Eternal Neglect) meet every other week to get a man’s point of view. Now, with a tear in my eye and a lukewarm cup of coffee in my hand, I dream of the days of ratchet wrenches and screwdrivers in the silverware drawer, dirty underwear and socks behind the recliner and dozens of “to do” lists stuffed under my greasy tool box. Ah yes, life was beautiful
~Love you Dad~
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