Friday, October 10, 2008

October 1Oth Matters


I gotta tell you this really is my favorite time of year. It used to be because of my birthday in September and Halloween (I loved dress-up as a kid). Then my Dad died in October and it became a hard time of year. The day he died Gary had stopped on the way home from work to buy a pumpkin at a roadside stand. It was in the dark ages before cell phones. I'd come home between classes to work on a paper when I got the call. I sat holding myself together waiting for him to come home. In he walked with a huge smile and this cute little pumpkin to surprise his new bride (we'd been married less than 5 months). It has become a treasured family tradition that we get our pumpkins every year on October 10th. It's been 19 years and I still miss him terribly, but this has helped me share my dad with my children, honor him, and have a happy activity to look forward to on this day every year. Love ya Dad! Love ya Gar! ...and yes that is me...many, many, many years ago :D

5 comments:

Kim Ence said...

That's where the very happy, sparkly eyes that we all love come from!

Emily said...

i never knew that...about the pumpkins. what a sweet tradition.

Hydes said...

That was such a sweet post. I will have to show this to Brian he would love to read it.

Barnett Family said...

Shelice, I love you.

debi9kids said...

What a great tradition.
I remember that day so vividly still, so many years later. I think Ang and I talked on the phone for hours and hours and hours that night.
Your father was such a GREAT man!