Dear Dad

Dear Dad,

It has been a while since we spent any quality time together. I am so busy with the girls that you only get to observe and not really participate in their lives. Did you hear that Lee learned to ride a bike and Katey is finally potty training herself? Today alone, she has peed like she drank a gallon of water. She is so excited and proud. I guess she was just waiting for the right time to show off.

I miss watching Yankee games with you. I think that if I paid more attention to sports with you when I was little, I might’ve had a better swing or a faster mile on the track. I miss the pipe smoke and the peanut butter crackers we shared and the background noise of Howard Cosell broadcasting. We don’t watch games anymore. There is too much keeping us from simpler days of long ago. I love pipe smoke to this day; it brings me back to you when I am overwhelmed by my busy life.

Do you ever think about our Memorial Day picnics? I do often. I remember clearly how you would grill the hot dogs near black and tell all the little cousins that hair would grow on their chest when they ate them. I still say that when I burn my hot dogs. I really love to serve them that way. The girls don’t laugh about it though. Oh well, that’s okay, I’ll eat them.

I remember, maybe it was back in ’77; our cousin Maura Farrell and I would snicker about burnt hot dogs and the possibility of having hairy chests. That was an unfathomable and horrific visual for little girls. We never stopped laughing at those picnics and we were never sure of why either. We were famous for it, so much so that birch beer would come out of our noses because we couldn’t stop laughing. We snorted like piglets. Remember that? We still went back for more even as the carbonation tickled our noses.

You may choose not to remember that Maura and I got in trouble a lot. I am sure you and Tom, Maura’s dad were like that in your young days of playing hooky from prep school. Whose idea was it to play hooky anyway? Tom never told me. He laughed when I tried to get him to confess.

Anyway, Dad, I am writing to ask if I could sit down with you soon. I know that seems impossible to believe considering how busy things get for us. I can make time this weekend, can you? I came to visit you one day and you were resting outside. I was hot from taking a jog and it rained for just a few minutes, neither of us ran inside, it was nice to cool off after my run. I sat beside you careful not to disturb the silence as you rested. I whispered “thank you.” You have always been so thoughtful of me.

My childhood memories are nearly faded now with the flood of things to remember about Lee and Katey. The girls count on me to tell them stories about their “firsts”.
I fumble on remembering my own. I write it all down so they can look back on them someday when they are my age, just in case they need a story to fall asleep to.

I can’t believe it; I forgot to tell you something! Katey grew three inches this school year. While she is tall like her dad’s side of the family, she resembles our side. Lee is taller too, but that is no surprise because, remember, she was 2 feet tall at birth! Mom was the first to see her, aside from us, and was blown away by her magnificent stretch and flair for drama and effect at 10 minutes old. You might’ve heard, Lee is still dramatic but maybe she will perform on Broadway someday, she makes her tales very compelling.

It would be nice for you to see us more on a daily basis, but I know what you are like too. You watch out for many people. Mom said you were like that as Mayor, you were always watching out for the community at large. Everybody has stories about you. One in particular was a great idea you had when the rail road bridge was being built to connect the center of town with Mt. Airy Road, you made sure there was a fire and emergency vehicles to serve the Mt. Airy side of town in case of an emergencies. What a great planner you have always been. You look ahead and see what’s needed and find out how to get it. You just whirl in with great charisma, dedication and support. You probably forgot you did all that, didn’t you?

I think back wishing I listened when you talked about world history. You loved to talk about wars of the past. I tuned it out when you talked to Mike and John about it all. I don’t know why. In hindsight, I wish I really watched the baseball games, followed and cheer loudly at the track meets and recorded history like my brothers. On behalf of all nine of us, I see that we were each passed great talents most of us have gone pretty far with. Thanks for giving me my life and that of my four brothers and four sisters, too. You always seemed so proud to have such a large family. I am too.

If you ever doubted your effect on us, don’t for another minute. You were magnificent, so much so you wore yourself out too soon. But, you are not alone, Jim, Tommy and Mary Farrell are with you now and Frank Farrell is soon to follow. Look out for him; ask old Uncle Tom and Frank to light some firecrackers in honor of “the incoming”. Your greeting will be what I look for. I know I was blessed to have you as a father. Thank you,

Love, Caroline9


Dedicated to my Dad-
Thomas Farrell Waldron
Born Dec 22nd, 1927 Died April 18, 1979