From Diana Vance
Monroe
To the editor:
If someone else had not thought of Father’s Day, I would have thought one up. Why? Because in all the world I had the best dad. I hope you feel that way about your dad.
When I was age 5 my dad began some music and then told me to stand on the toes of his shoes. Then we would dance together. He would hold my hands and dance with his feet. I am convinced this pleasure caused me to love to dance all my life.
There was a big hill one block away and Dad would get our sled out after a big snowfall and ask, “Do you want to go sledding with me?” Of course I did and the two of us would walk to the top of that hill. Dad would lie down on the sled on his tummy and I crawled on top of his back and “swoosh down we would go.” It was thrilling. We did that many times together and it was such fun.
One Christmas when I was 9 Dad gave me ice skates from Canada. They were tan leather and warm inside. Dad and I would go to a nearby ice rink and he taught me how to skate and I was in heaven. But I am getting ahead of my story. When I was 6 Dad took me to Chicago on the train and we walked a ways until I saw this huge tent. Inside was a circus and they had everything for our enjoyment. There were dancing elephants and frightening tigers jumping through flaming hoops. Fancy dressed women would spin on a high rope. I will never forget the trapeze act.
When I was 13 Dad said, “Let’s go outside to the back yard. I want to show you how to hold a golf club.” I learned the grip from Dad and we went golfing together many times. Dad received free tickets at work to the Milwaukee Braves baseball games and so in the summer we went five or six times to the baseball game. One time at the 7th inning stretch Dad asked me if I knew what was going on? “No.” There have been no hits off the pitcher Jim Wilson and then I became excited. We might see a no hitter and we did!
I had a special Dad who loved me. He even wrote me a letter when I was 50 telling me he loved me. Fathers, if you haven’t done that, please do it now.
