Last Dance with Dad
This is a tough father's day, it seems. I don't typically mark it much, since my own father, distant while he lived, died so many years ago. But I feel the lost of others whose fathers have died. A woman I worked with lost her father about 18 months ago. A friend has been at her father's side for the last few weeks after he underwent emergency open heart surgery and suffered all kinds of elaborate complications. Lots of famous dads have passed recently. On Friday we lost Tim Russert, a celebrated family man whose own father became the impetus for both of Russert's books, Big Russ and Me and the follow up, Wisdom of Our Fathers.
In January, former Grascals fiddler Jimmy Mattingly lost his father. Thursday night, Sam Bush's father Charlie passed away. He was 89. I'd like to think that if I don't leave anything else behind I will have brought into the world somebody who will make the world a better place.
I hope you'll listen to this barn-burnin' universal send-off from Sam Bush's 2004 release, King of My World. You're sure to enjoy Sam's fiddling for a change on this one called "Puppies N Knapsacks." If you're a dad, I hope you were duly celebrated, and if you have a dad or know one you like, hope you told him today that he mattered.
posted by Mando Mama @ 7:19 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
We meet Father's Day with unease at our house too. While I love having a day to honor the wonderful father I'm married to, the day takes on a darkness now that my father-in-law, who was an amazing father, husband, and grandfather, is dead. My own father is in his own world that has never contained me or my family, so I have to kick myself each year to make the dreaded call. This year we were at a tournament all day and I decided I could not deal with him and sent an email. Awful, I know.
Pie,
You are amazing, and yet your father has chosen not to relate with you, your incredible kids, or their wonderful dad. You and Mr. Pie have created the sort of unusual family model that is all too rare and that I admire very, very much. I can't conceive of what you went through as you watched your dad operate in his world, but I can tell you that the man is lucky to hear from you at all.
Love,
MM
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