freepik
I lucked out. I knew my dad loved me, even though he was embarrassed to show or say it.
He gave me his sense of humor and sarcasm – things I treasure every day, and a fierce loyalty to family. He grew up handicapped due to a fall from a horse at three. His left arm was deformed and much shorter than the right. He essentially did everything one-handed. His sense of humor kept him from being bullied overmuch. It’s hard to be a bully when you’re laughing your rear end off with the person you thought to bully.
His intense creativity and willingness to think outside the box led him not only to support his family being a one-man advertising agency in Tulsa for over 20 years, but also winning an amount of celebrity and a Silver Addy lifetime achievement award for his ‘unique contribution’ in radio ads.
I will never forget the day he came to my college class where I was making a presentation regarding advertising toward my master’s degree. I brought him as a special guest to make a small speech and play a couple of ads to help me show how we could teach our students to listen critically and be smart consumers.
He ended his part with, “One of the nicest parts of my job is getting to make presentations like this. This one is particularly fun because I can tell you how proud I am of my daughter, Linda Wheaton Lewis.” The class gasped in surprise that this man some had asked for an autograph was my dad. I gasped and cried because it was such a nice thing to say, and in public!
He asked me to ‘remember me laughing.’ It was a long time before I could do that, but I got there. Remembering his favorite stories, the way he taught me to laugh at myself, and remembering his unique view on life are a lasting legacy.
Happy Father’s Day.
creativeartworksblog 