I carry my dad with me everywhere. He’s always with me.
He wasn’t one to say much. He was embarrassed by displays of emotion. He gave me the gift of humor. He used it himself to ward off the bullies at school who tried to make fun of him because one of his arms was shorter than the other and his hand was mangled and pretty much useless from a fall from a horse when he was three. People can’t laugh and bully at the same time.
He taught me to strive for your dreams, taking chances. He brought his wife and two kids from Long Island NY to Tulsa, Oklahoma in order to take a job in advertising in a small company. He not only did well in that job, but built his own independent advertising agency, eventually winning a lifetime achievement award from the American Advertising Federation for his unique contribution to Tulsa radio advertising. He went from barely scraping to never having to make a cold call to a client the rest of his life. His ads are still played on the radio from time to time in commemoration.
He taught me to think creatively as I watched him come up with new ideas to sell products, then cut his own ads on his tape recorder in our home, then sell them to the client. Even though he only had one hand that worked properly, I have 5 oil paintings from him – three landscapes of trees, and ‘personality’ portraits of my brother and me, where he captured us as children. I also have two small wooden ‘dogs’ he carved, plus an ‘engagement ring’ he carved for my mom.
He taught me a love of learning by sitting in his chair on the weekends, pouring over big books on geology and archeology. He would have loved to go on digs, unearthing bits of ancient history, and tried to explain to me what the different layers of rocks meant.
When he went with me to school when I was getting my Master’s Degree and asked him to be my “celebrity’ guest speaker on a lesson on listening intelligently to advertising, he made me cry when at the end of the presentation, he told the class how proud he was to be my dad.
I am so lucky to have countless memories of both of my parents, to know that they loved my brother and me, sacrificed for us, and wanted the best for us. I wish everyone had both parents – or failing that – people who loved them and taught them what was important in life.
creativeartworksblog 