Ten Things about My Father

The older I get the more I think about my father. I did not know him very long, as I was only fourteen when he died. Today I decided to come up with ten obscure facts about him that only reside in the far recesses of my mind.

1. My father loved sports - especially the long jump in track, basketball, football and baseball. He shared this love with me, because I can remember attending Browns' games, Indians' games and even a football game at the Ohio State University.

2. His career as a pitcher ended when a baseball hit him in the mouth during a freshman game at The Ohio State University.

3. My father loved spaghetti, which was never served at our house. My mother disliked tomatoes. Dad went to an Italian restaurant in Ashtabula with the football coaches on Friday nights after the games. He always had spaghetti at these social events.

4. My father was an auxiliary sheriff's deputy in addition to being the superintendent of schools.. He worked the unusual calls like when the gypsies came to town. I don't remember the details of that one - just the phone call.

5. Other jobs my father had included working at the Coca Cola plant, hotel desk clerk and the shipyards at the Harbor.

6. Another of my father's jobs was to pick up the candy for the basketball concession stand at Jefferson High School. Every so often we went to Ashtabula to some place I can't remember, but we would purchase a ton of candy bars. After we made the school purchase, I was allowed to pick out a box. What a sweet memory - getting twenty Hershey bars at one time.

7. Our phone number was 301. We had a private line because he was the school superintendent. One of my good friends had a party line - Blue 602. It was an art to listen in on your neighbors' calls without them knowing.

8. My father loved to sing, dance, play the drums and tell jokes. He put on elaborate shows in Jefferson to raise money for the athletic programs. He tap danced to such grand old tunes as Toot Toot Tootsie and You're a Grand Old Flag dressed in top hat and tails.

9. Dad smoked unfiltered Camel cigarettes. This was before the warnings that smoking can kill you.

10. My father liked to stay up late. He said that he wanted to know what went on in the world between 6:00PM and midnight.