A little girl needs her Daddy...

...So does a big girl.

I've shared some about my father in a past post - http://alwaysonmymindforeverinmyheart.blogspot.com/2013/05/bubbling-over-with-tales-and-memories.html

My father had a smile that could light up a room.
In his later years, while living in nursing home care, because the absolutely horrible disease known as Alzheimer's had robbed him of his memories, his face and his family-life, it was that smile that greeted me everyday, and it's that smile that I'll write about today.

Me, my dad and my younger sister in our home in Miami.
Check out that lamp! (and the smiles)

I mentioned in that older post that my father lived in the shadows of his brothers and sister. I've heard from several sources that Daddy did all he could to gain his own father's love, respect and pride; emotions, feelings and characteristics that were, apparently, reserved only for my father's siblings. But, that didn't keep Dad from trying, even up until only a few days before he passed away, he spoke of his father as being a great man and how much he loved him. We kept a photo of Daddy and his father on the dresser in the nursing home, and there were days when Dad -wearing a great big smile - would carry that framed picture around with him.

This is a rare photo of my father with his dad.

It was actually re-touched for me, because the entire right side of my father's face

was missing from the photo - it had been scratched off.

When my older sister was born, my parents were living in New Mexico, abandoning their lives and extended families back in Southern Illinois to make a living in the copper mines of Santa Rita. I can only imagine the smile on my father's face when he saw her for the first time. His firstborn. She was beautiful, and still is today.

I don't have any pictures of my dad and my older sister together -  not because there aren't any,

but rather it's because Mom made special scrapbook albums for each of us with

our own pictures in them. But isn't she beautiful?

By the time my brother came along, my parents were living in Evansville, Ind., where my father worked in shipyards building LSTs during World War II. Although he sometimes had difficulty showing it (likely because of what I would call a strained relationship with his own father), my dad was so happy to have a son. Of course, I can only imagine that smile -- from ear to ear.

Here's a picture of my dad, my brother, my mother and my older sister.

When my younger sister and I were born, my parents were living in Mounds, Ill. Daddy was working for an oil company delivering gasoline to stations all around Southern Illinois. By then, his parents had passed away from complications following a car accident.
I was born the day before his birthday. He so badly wanted Mother to hold on for a few hours and give birth on his birthday, but it didn't happen. He sure loved telling that story and smiled and laughed each time he told it.

This is a photo of my dad taking me swimming when I was just 11-months old.

See his smile?



Although we still lived in Illinois when my younger sister was born, it was soon after her birth that we moved to Florida; a move that my father thought would be the best thing for the family. She was a beautiful baby - blonde, blonde hair - and she brought a huge smile to his face.

My younger sister is the one looking straight into the camera and seated.

She's beautiful. But, again, I don't have many pictures of my siblings,

 because Mother divided them up many years ago and gave them all to each of us.

And then there was my mother, who put the absolute biggest smile on my father's face. He was so proud of her. He bragged about her sewing, he bragged about what a good mother she was, he bragged about her German Chocolate Cake, he bragged about her operatic voice! But most of all, he smiled when he looked back at all the years they had together.

 

It is his smile that helped Mom get through those years Alzheimer's disease tried so hard to destroy. It is that smile that many of my old friends remember most about Dad. And it is the memory of that great big smile that comes to my mind first when thinking about him.

 

As I've said before, our lives were not perfect, but I choose to remember the parts of our lives, whether in Southern Illinois, Miami or other parts of Florida, that were the most charming. I choose to keep my parents' memory in a place that will always remain special and happy.

 

I love you, Daddy, always have and always will.

Happy Father's Day!

One of the last pictures taken of my dad and me, just before he went into nursing home care.