I was lucky

         I've wanted to write a little essay about my dad for a while. I thought it would be appropriate to do it and share on fathers day, just to share how lucky I was to have had him <3. I didn't really proofread it much but wanted to get it up before midnight.

I was very lucky to have had the father that I did.  He was always on board with every single thing I had ever done. He took me to see my very first movie in the theaters when I was 4 or 5 and, It was Disney’s, THE LITTLE MERMAID! Once the lights went down and the merfolk started swimming across the screen, I was in awe. After that movie, I was obsessed with mermaids for the next year or two. So much that my dad ran Toys R Us late at night with me, to get an Ariel coin bank, that I had just seen hidden in my grandmas’ closet, but I needed it right then! My dad even made my very first mer tail! It was made from some type of red nylon fabric, totally inspired by Splash! I have a picture of me wearing it in the tub and some of the fabric.  After that, we saw Tim Burton's, Batman Returns, and of course, I then had a thing for Catwoman. I immediately needed a whip, which I got. My dad was running to the comic bookstore every month to get me the newest issue of Jim Lees, Catwoman, on his way home from work. Even when I was picked on as a little boy, he didn’t put up with no shit, he went and spoke to their parents.

    After that came, Jem, now known as Jem and the Holograms. Dad helped me record all the VHS songs on to cassette tapes by hooking up the VCR, or the TV to his stereo. He had a friend who owned a recording studio, so naturally, he arranged for my sister and me to have a recording session where we could record with the Jem songs. A few years later he even let me try the drums and keyboard. Needless to say, I had one drum lesson and dropped it. Then came Sailor Moon, a bunch of magical girls fighting evil. He was totally into it with me, could follow along with what I told him, knew the story, etc. He bought my first Japanese manga for me, even started buying the bootleg Japanese VHS tapes when Sailor Moon stopped airing on Fox 66. We even drove from Mt. Morris to Lansing so I could get a book Sailor Moon movie book, back in 1995? He and my mom let us play with whatever we wanted without batting an eyelash. From dolls to cars and action figures, to even customizing my own X-men figures. Then the SPICE GIRLS came out! He took my sister and me to see the movie and it never stopped from there. We’d listen to them in the car, at his house, whenever and anywhere we wanted. He bought us their toys, microphones, and magazines.

    In my teens, he taught me how to drive and worked on my car numerous times. One time putting in a new transmission and even pulled me out of a ditch.  Going into adulthood I noticed that a lot of people did not have good relationships with their parents or siblings. Which I also found very odd, but the older I got, the more I noticed it and I started to realize a little bit just how lucky I was. He taught me that if I see something I like, that I should buy it then because it might be gone the next time. He was right cause it usually was. I got him into our eBay adventures with buying and selling. Sometimes when I drove up to his place I would find him working in the back yard listing to the music playing, sometimes even the Spice Girls.

    He always told me, only you know what’s best for you, and that was the exact reply I received when I came out to him. Years later he helped me move back to Michigan. Driving a total of 1,200 miles. We spray painted some furniture, and even took apart a doll stage, painted it and rewired it. When we finished that project I thought, how cool and funny is it that a dad is helping his 30-year-old son customize a doll stage, with working sound and lights!!! He even gave me a card to hook it up to my mp3 player. He always enjoyed my art and even the short story that was published. He was proud of me for going back to school and checked in from time to time about that and work. I’m thrilled I was able to share with him that everything from my childhood came back around before he passed like, Sailor Moon, Jem and the Holograms, She-Ra and most recently again, the Spice Girls! My dad was always on board with whatever crazy idea his children had and supported us no matter what. I told my dad a few times that we had been so lucky to have such a cool and hip dad. I was talking to an uncle on my mom’s side recently about how many kids don’t have good relationships with their parents. He agreed and said, “ that’s because your dad actually gave a shit about you two”.  The Spice Girls reuniting was both thrilling and hard at times for me looking at the pictures and videos. It reminded me of all the fun times we had when I was a child/pre-teen.  I’m glad I told him they reunited again before he left. “Angel In Chains” by Geri Halliwell/Ginger Spice was released on a day we were at the hospital during a chemo treatment. That song will always remind me of him. I hope he knew what an amazing father he was, aside from me telling him how lucky I was to have him as a dad.

    I’m getting ready to buy a brand-new car, and this is something I would have totally turned to him for. He supported me in every decision I made and I can rest assured no matter what I do in the future he would have approved.