Father’s Day

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I mentioned in the book, ‘The Barking Lions’ that if there were a day I could time travel back to it would be Father’s Day back in 1996.

I was 31 years old, and was just a year away from celebrating my first Father’s Day - (that’s a whole ‘nother story).

That weekend was the Strawberry Festival weekend in my home town of North Collins. On Friday night, whilst drinking at the bar in town, a few buddies of mine wondered if we could get a team together for a one-pitch softball tournament.

We slapped that team together on a napkin…guys who played against each other in our usual league…formed a rag-tag union. We figured we’d play a couple of games, drink a few beers and then watch the rest of the tourney.

A funny thing happened:

We won all of our games on Saturday! Our pitcher, Scotty, was adept at throwing one-pitch strikes, and I was on an absolute heater. In the 4 games we played I got a base hit nearly every time up.

Problem being, we were still very much alive for day 2 of the tournament…

…Father’s Day.

The beer was flowing. The sun was shining, and we won our morning games. God was on my side though because we had a long break coming, at the exact time when my Dad was serving dinner.

As long as I live I’ll never chase the image of pulling into the packed driveway at my parent’s home.

Everyone was there.

Dad was at the head of the table…

…a roaster filled with rigatoni beside him.

The meat was staged in a huge pan…

…meatballs, pork, eggs, sausage.

Dad was tan. He’d always had a really dark complexion in the summer.

“Hey! About time,” he called out. “Eat!”

My siblings and their spouses were there. Kathy already had a plate. Kids running around. Sinatra on the stereo.

The thing about Dad’s sauce…

…it was always perfect.

I ate a lot. Laughed even more, and made a mental image that I have carried with me forever.

We made it to the semifinal of that tourney. Playing 7 or 8 games as the catcher - in 2 days - cost me dearly.

I tore my Achilles tendon just weeks later. I always blamed that tourney for that injury.

Then Kathy took care of me and it showed me that I needed help to get through life…and Jake made his appearance just before the next Father’s Day rolled around.

Happy Father’s Day to all!

I hope that you have a wonderful memory to carry around with you…

…and as a Dad…

…I often think that it’s the greatest, hardest job I’ve ever had.

My Dad made it look easy…and he had double the kids.

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