Tag Archives: memories of my dad

June 14, 2025 · 7:07 pm

Father’s Day 2025

My dad carved these sweet doggies for my mom. I would love these simply for that, but the remarkable thing is that my dad only had the use of one hand. He fell off a horse when he was three. Back then (1920’s) they didn’t know much about setting young children’s broken bones and hands, so he was left with a much shorter left arm than right and useless left hand.

He overcame being bullied at school because of his sense of humor. The other kids found it difficult to bully him and laugh at his jokes at the same time, so the bullying stopped. His sense of humor was one of his strengths thoroughout his life. (When he died, he left a note that said, “Remember me laughing.”)

He started a one-man radio advertising agency in Tulsa, OK and not only provided a living for his family, but garnered awards from the advertisers professional group in Tulsa for a lifetime of achievement.

When he asked my mom to marry him, he gave her this ring he carved.

I have shown you this recently. It’s one of the few oil paintings he did. I loved a set of three landscapes he did – 3 small paintings of some evergreens – framed in the same way. He also did these ‘portrait/personality’ paintings of my brother and me. Brian had an image of this reproduced on glass and it’s sitting on my mantel in my new condo. So my dad lives on in my heart and he is now in Thailand with me.

Celebrate your dad this Father’s Day today – and EVERY day!

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October 18, 2023 · 9:59 am

Halloween Past

@cutigers on X

My dad and I shared Halloween and the 4th of July as our favorite holidays.

I remember one Halloween when my dad, who was 6’2″ tall and skinny as a beanpole, dressed up as a pregnant nurse. I was just a child. I wish we had gotten a picture I could share with you, because as I think of it, I can see him right in front of my face, and I keep smirking and snorting with the memory.

My dad wore glasses and had a mustache and short goatee type beard. I don’t know where he found the nurse’s uniform, but he wore an old style nurse’s cap on his head with a blond wig, and his glasses, beard, and mustache hanging out. He put a pillow under the uniform part, and wore ‘hose’ and white sneakers. He wore a stethoscope around his neck and carried a HUGE syringe in the pocket.

He had made up a whole speech to go along with his costume. The only other memory I have of that Halloween was my parents’ friends laughing so hard they had trouble standing up. In fact, several took one look at him and made straight for a chair in our living room, laughing their heads off.

My dad has been gone a long time now. He said, “Remember me laughing.” It was a long time before I could, but as the years pass, I remember not only HIM laughing, but all the rest of us, as well.

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Filed under Halloween - How Do You Carve YOUR Pumpkin?, holidays, memories, Skeleton Art

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November 8, 2020 · 10:36 am

A Memory of My Dad

Creative Arts at Haywood Community College

When I was looking for images of artists who make wood come alive, I found the picture above. I was suddenly swamped with memories of my dad and the dogs HE carved. They are two of my most cherished possessions.

Dogs Carved by my dad – Jim Wheaton

My dad is gone now, but he is alive in my heart and always will be. My dad was talented in a lot of different ways – but one was determination.

I say that as a ‘talent’ though it was a character trait, as well. My dad fell off a horse when he was 3 years old, shattering his left arm. Many surgeries were done, but back then they didn’t know what they do now. They saved his arm, but he lost the use of his left hand. His left arm was much shorter than his right, as well.

This could – and did – ruin other people’s lives. I remember us walking on a sidewalk somewhere – seeing a man sitting on the sidewalk, asking for money, holding up an arm remarkably like my dad’s. My dad stopped, held up his left arm, and said quietly, “Get a job!”

He carved the two sweet dogs above, holding the wood in his left hand and carving patiently with his right. I don’t remember him actually carving them, but it amazes me that he lived his life so that we actually FORGOT for much of the time that he might have an extra challenge with something.

I feel my dad looking at me from time to time. Sometimes he is challenging me to get off my duff and quit procrastinating – just because I am intimidated when trying something new. Sometimes he tells me to lighten up, see the humor in a situation, or look at it as another of life’s character-building exercises. Sometimes I’m just swamped with love, missing him, but feeling so lucky he was ‘mine’ for a while.

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July 4, 2018 · 11:00 am

Happy Independence Day – 2018

Each July 4th I remember one of the many reasons I decided I wanted to spend my life with my husband.

My dad’s health was failing fast. One of the things that bothered him the most was that he couldn’t see well enough to do the Cryptoquote in the daily newspaper, read, watch TV, etc. My mom would carefully print out the Cryptoquote clues on a large piece of paper in black magic marker so that he could see them. He was delighted with her for this and spent much of each day trying to solve it while my mom worked the NY Times crossword puzzle AND the cryptoquote.

My father’s favorite holiday was Independence Day. He loved getting a big, long string of ladyfinger firecrackers. They’re the little ones tied together in a long double string. You’re supposed to untie them and shoot them off one at a time. My dad would take the whole string, light it, throw it out in the yard and enjoy the seemingly endless explosions, laughing.

One of his last years he was very depressed. My then ‘boyfriend’ and I went out and bought fireworks for a back yard display. We of course got ladyfingers, TWO strings, sparklers, my favorite ‘snakes,’ and lots of inexpensive night time fireworks. My husband-to-be worked so hard that evening, setting off one firework at a time. It was so hot my poor guy was dripping. My dad’s grins split his face. He could SEE them! He thanked us over and over again, saying it was the best 4th of July he’d ever had. Our display teed off a neighbor on the next street, but we didn’t care. If I hadn’t already fallen in love with my husband, I would have that night. I will never forget his kindness to my dad.

Now my husband and I enjoy the friendly (I hope!) competition of some down-in-the-valley behind us neighbors, each trying to outdo the other in wonderful fireworks. We sit on the back deck, put our feet up on the railing, drink our cold drinks (water this year – we’re dieting) and enjoy the show. I’m not sure if our yellow lab, Amber, will be afraid of the fireworks or not. If she is, we’ll put her inside. Sweet elderly Molly is so hard of hearing now she might not even be able to hear them!

I hope you are with family and friends this celebration day.

Happy Independence Day!

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June 2, 2018 · 10:58 am

Laughing

Source Unknown

 

My dad had a great sense of humor and he was kind enough to give it to me in a lot of different forms – stories, jokes, puns, sarcasm. He taught me to stand back and look at things as if it were a movie. Many times, when you do this, you are able to see the humor in the situation.

He also used laughter as a defense. When he was 3, he fell off a horse, breaking his arm so badly that the doctors barely saved it. The result was a left arm much shorter than his right and a curled up, essentially useless hand. When kids at school bullied him, he made them laugh. They decided they liked him and wanted to be around him, so the bullying stopped. This ability served him well his whole life, allowing him to get married, have two kids, provide for everyone using his humor and talent to create radio commercials for his clients. He won an Addy Award for lifetime achievement in Tulsa. When he died, he scrawled on a piece of paper, “Remember me laughing.”

He gave us love and a priceless tool for handling many of the tough things in life. I can’t count the number of times that being able to see and share the humor in a situation has helped me – plus those dealing with me.

This morning is a good example of how being able to see the humor has saved my husband and our marriage! We were upstairs trying to program our ‘smart’ thermostat to cool down in the evening before we go to bed, keep it cool while we sleep, and then turn off during the day. The idea is that you set the time and day of the week, then start with day 1, setting heat and cool for each ‘period’ of the day – morn, day, afternoon, and evening with temp for heat and then for cool. When you finish one day’s programming, you can then copy it to all the other days and then get out of programming mode, setting it to ‘cool’ or ‘heat.’

We have just tried to do this four times, laboriously going through the long list of directions. When we finish, we get out of the programming mode, putting it to ‘cool.’ And it immediately turns on the a/c and starts to cool it down. WRONG! Plus – the ‘prog’ mode indicator is flashing. We don’t know if the thermostat is messed up or we’re having a serious case of user stupidity or what. We started getting really frustrated and angry, and then I was able to stand back and look at the two senior citizens – frustrated and angry – arguing over the thermostat being smarter than we were, and I started to laugh. When my husband asked, ‘what the hell are you laughing about?” I laughed even harder. Finally, he started to laugh, too. It diffused the situation – even though it’s still true that the thermostat is smarter than we are. We have now called and left a message with our go-to guy on heat and cooling…

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