Going to Work with Dad

Have to get this story down.

On June 1, 1975 I was a mere ten years old. I know right where I was that night.

In a hotel in Geneva, New York with my Dad and my brother John.

I think about it now and it had to be because my Mom was sick of dealing with all the damn kids!

She sent me and John out of town with Dad. It was like an adventure for us. A road trip with Dad!

I passed by Geneva on my way to Syracuse and memories of that trip dominated my thoughts.

Of course I don’t recall the specifics of the building that Dad was in charge of building, but I do recall wearing a hard hat as we walked along the site.

Then John and I spent a lot of time in the job trailer. We had lunch and snacks and we met everyone on the project.

That night, we went out to dinner and then back to the hotel. The three of us in one room…

…which was a problem for me because I’m a light sleeper and Dad was a heavy snorer.

He sounded like a bear.

I was sitting inches from the television, watching the California Angels against the Baltimore Orioles.

The game was a fairly quiet affair with not a whole lot going on, but Nolan Ryan was pitching for the Angels and he was on his game.

Dad woke up in the middle of the 6th inning and told me to shut off the television because we had to be up early.

30 seconds later he was snoring again.

Dad woke again after the 8th inning.

“I told you to go to bed,” he said. “Your brother is sleeping.”

“Nolan Ryan is throwing a no-hitter,” I said.

And that is the first thing I really remember about that night.

Dad got up, and together we watched Ryan finish the no-hitter.

The next day, Dad took us all the way home even though it was a work day.

Years later, Dad told me a story about that trip.

“The day you guys came to work with me the jar in the job trailer that held a few dollars for coffee came up missing. One of the carpenters came up to me and accused either you or John of stealing the money. That pissed me off. I asked the guy what made him think that you stole it and he said, ‘They’re Italian, right? Don’t you start stealing around that age?’”

Dad was still seething about it when he told me the story about 30 years later.

Was that why we left the job during the middle of the work week?

In all my years, I very rarely saw Dad take a day off.

“What happened?” I asked Dad.

“What do you think happened?” Dad asked.

“If I didn’t know better I’d think you knocked his teeth out.”

Dad smiled.

“Is that what happened?”

“We saw Nolan Ryan throw a no-hitter,” he said. “Let’s leave it there.”