Sunday, February 01, 2009

Remembering

(my brother videotaping me while I was photographing him)
Three years ago today my father died. Oddly, I didn't wake up this morning remembering that fact, but then it came to me. Then I forgot about it again; until my mother reminded me. Then I forgot again; until I saw my brother.

It was obvious by his eyes that he hadn't forgotten. Not even for a minute.

We talked about it briefly, getting interrupted by children and family and never really finished talking. But I was at his house on this day and being there was wonderful. It really was a fluke since we never know where we'll be and although we were trying to get back home, we didn't know it'd turn out to be on this date. The day went beautifully though.

When we first pulled up in the driveway, my brother and the boys were waiting for us, all clad in their Steelers jerseys. The boys were hooting and hollering and jumping up and down, pumping their arms to get us to blow the air horn as my brother was filming our arrival. It was the first time any of them would be seeing our truck.

After we gave them all the grand tour and the boys took turns checking out all the guages, the air horn and oddly, the bathroom, we went inside to scarf some pre-game snacks. My sister-in-law had prepared a great meal, the smells of which smacked us in the face the moment we entered through the front door. The aroma got all stuck in my nose and pulled me into the kitchen. I was ready to dive in at that moment!

Everyone was ready for the big game. I'm not a big football fan, but if I root for anyone, it's the Steelers. And my rooting is unlike anyone else's rooting; I do it silently. Why? Because I really don't care about sports. Have you not read my 25 Things??

That said, I cheer for the Steelers because my two cousins bleed black and gold. And because of their love for the team (I think both of them would leave their wives for Ben Roethlisberger), I have come to root for them by sheer family association.

Now my nephews are die-hard Steelers fans, and the oldest one even has a Terrible Towel. God help us all. And because of them (three boys under the age of 10) I have to pretend to like football. Just a little. So I took my plate of wings, my Diet Coke and my chips and salsa and I sat in the vicinity of the screen, looking up from the pages of Oprah Home magazine and giving my little victory smile at all the right moments. They were easily snookered. I even know some of the guys names, although I jokingly called Roethlisberger "Cheeseburger" and Palomalu, "Palmolive". This got a few laughs.

My father wasn't a huge football fan either, but he was a fan of food and parties, so I think he would have been pleased. And I think he would have loved the truck. What we realized as we thought back on that day in 2006 when we were all together in New York the weekend of his death, was that the Steelers won the Super Bowl that year. And then they won this year. Hmmm. An odd thing to connect, but somehow, the remembering wasn't as sad.

I'm wearing my father's bathrobe right now as I type this; I laugh at how I look in it, but then I smile when I remember how he did.

To look back a little more, here is my
post about that day in 2006 and then me remembering him again in 2007. And then completely off the "death theme", the post about the perky ass in 2008 who fitted my boyfriend for his new glasses.

Glad I didn't go all depresso three years in a row!

3 comments:

Jeni said...

Remembering an important date -like when someone very close to us passed -is something that hits me in a kind of weird way at times. I remember the date my Dad died, although I never knew him as that happened when I was less than 3 weeks old. I remember the date when a close friend shot himself, when a cousin did the same thing thing too, as well as the date another very close friend died. But the exact date my own mother died, I can never remember that for some reason or other -have to look it up on my family tree and it still doesn't stick in my memory although I know it was very close to my birthday. Go figure!
Since you mention the Super Bowl game, my daughter and I watched the bulk of this year's game, the last 2 minutes of it in a really anxious frame of mind too, as Steeler fans all over probably shared that feeling with us. My son even got caught up in the game too and he generally pays absolutely no attention whatsoever to virtually any kind of sporting event unless it involves cars! Really contagious to watch the game this year apparently, huh?
BTW -I love your new truck and will have to show posts about it to my son too as he is an over-the-road driver but doesn't have his own unit.

Anonymous said...

This turned out to be an interesting post to read and learn from.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you made me tear up this morning. What a sweet post!