Oh, Dad!
Most of us have said those words at one time or another. The tone usually is one of shaking-my-head, exasperation or embarrassment, but sometimes it's one of love or gratefulness or humor.
Yep, dads can do and say the craziest things.
So for Father's Day (it's today, by the way, in case you forgot and need to rush out now to buy a gift or card), we asked readers to send in their favorite memories of their Dad, a moment when he did something that absolutely encapsulated his personality, whether it was quirky, funny, sweet or downright goofy.
Here's what they said:
David Burns
"I was about 17 and preparing for my driver's license test. My father was my instructor. We went to an empty parking lot on the local college campus. He told me to pull into a spot - which I did. However, he didn't tell me to stop - so I didn't. I hit the building. The building was fine and so was the car, but the driving lessons suffered greatly after that! Parents, maybe teaching your kids to drive should be left to the pros."
- Anna Lee Troichuk, Decatur, Tenn.
***
Bill Brooks
"Growing up, whenever we were in search of my father, my mother's response was always the same: 'Oh, he's out watering the driveway.' Yes, you read correctly: My father often spent hours watering our driveway. What, of course, he was really doing was using the force of the water to wash away all of the pollen, leaves and debris that gather when your house is located beside the woods. Everyone in my family thought this was absolutely absurd, and we all made jokes about it. None of us understood this odd habit. And none of us really appreciated the fact that our driveway always looked clean as a whistle. Now, many years later as an adult, I have begun to understand my father's obsession with the hose. Ironically, I often find myself out watering my own driveway. It's relaxing to me, and gives me a break from other things. And I like putting the hose on the 'jet' setting and seeing how clean I can get the pavement. I guess I inherited the 'water gene' from my dear, late father. My kids are probably making jokes as I write this."
- Tina Brooks Brown, Towson, Md., formerly of Lookout Mountain
***
The Rev. Walter N. Hicks
"My father is and will always be my rock. I was raised up being a preacher's kid. My Dad always worked hard for our family; he worked a full-time job and also pastored a church for over 45 years. When I was very young, Dad had gotten a call late one night to come to the hospital to be with a family, that their loved one was dying. Of course he went. Coming back home in the early hours of the morning it was raining really hard and he saw a young girl who needed a ride. He stopped and picked her up and he asked her where she was going and why was she out so late. She said she was going home to see her dad for Father's Day and needed to get to the bus station. He asked her if she was afraid to be out by herself. She smiled and said 'No sir,' pulled out a big knife from her boots and said 'I will be fine.' I asked him, 'Dad, were you not afraid of what she could of done to you?' He said 'No, because God was with me during the whole time.' I love you to the Moon and back, your spoiled brat."
- Lisa Hicks Swearengin, Chattanooga
***
Frederick John Hoffman Sr.
"My dad was an exceptional father and man. He held the same job for 48 years as chief chemist of N.O. Public Service, was married to my mother for 54 1/2 years and did an outstanding job rearing five sons. As I grow older (81+), I realize just how I was impressed by his everyday behavior. He once said if a man died with three true friends, that man was rich in friendship. He must have had a king's riches because his friends absolutely couldn't be counted on one hand. Wish there was some way we could bottle and distribute what my Dad brought to this earth."
- Son No. 3, Don Hoffman. Cleveland, Tenn.
***
Horace Cooper
"My Daddy was a farmer who plowed his crops with his mules. He was still farming when he was in his 70s. He thought his neighbors should be able to have gardens. He put his plow in his wagon and drove down the road, stopping to plow gardens for his neighbors. We counted 12 gardens he was plowing one year. He did not charge for his work but some paid and one family gave him honey. He always grew lots of watermelons and shared them with his neighbors and friends. If someone came home and found watermelons, they knew who had brought them."
- Verenice Cooper Hawkins, Rising Fawn, Ga.
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Daddy Dog
"We call him Daddy Dog. One story - well, many stories - is about how he lost his fingers on his left hand. In one, he and his buddy were shooting Roman candles and shot them off. Another story, while he was teaching me to change a tire on the car, was he didn't set a chock on one of the tires and the car fell and cut his fingers off. Oh, a story he use to tell us was the one about when he was working on (NASCAR driver) Friday Hassler's race car, one of the cars on the track lost a tire; it flew off and headed towards him. He had his hands in his pockets, stuck his foot out to stop it and it flipped him up in the air. So never stick your foot out to stop a speeding tire."
- Christine Morgan, Chattanooga
***
Res Blevins
"Res Blevins was sheriff of Dade County from 1955 to 1972. In 1989, the new Dade County Jail was open for business. Sheriff Philip Street gave him the honor of being the first one arrested and locked up in the new jail. It was said that Sheriff Blevins locked up a lot of people in his 17 years and they wanted him to see what it felt like, all in jest, of course. Not only was he a good sheriff, he was a very good dad and role model."
- Allison Blevins, Trenton, Ga.
***
Charles Calloway
"My father has not only been in my life since Day One, he has been the father to all five of my children; the father to many foster children who call him Pops when they see him, even a father to my ex-husband who lost his father at age 7. My father raised three other boys as sons - my older cousins. He used to bring his whole check to my mom; I thought he was crazy but, as a woman, I understand. He felt a man was to provide and a woman was to handle the business part of the finances, which worked for them. I just thank God for allowing me to have him as having him he showed me how a man is to love a woman, which is the reason I'm now single as I don't believe these 20th century men have a clue to what a real man/father is to be!!"
- Latoya Nicole, Chattanooga
***
Mack Cook
"When I think of my Dad, I remember how much fun he had playing tennis. He loved playing doubles. I would play with him a lot and he would have the best time joking around with the other men on the court. He took great pleasure placing an overhead shot at the feet of his net opponent."
- Linda Cook Stephens, Chattanooga
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Bob Mahoney
"My Dad was good kisser according to my wife and a good hugger according to a few bar waitresses from the post-golf watering hole He took great care of my mother and was a great father to five kids and a good friend to all. When I was a child, he would nap and respond to questions while sleeping. I would get him to agree to all sorts of hilarious things during those nap times."
- Chris Mahoney, Summerville, S.C.
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Luther Loveless
"He did many things to gross me out and remember him by, but my favorite memory is how he respected my mother and told me so."
- Kim Loveless, Chattanooga
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Al Clayton
"My Dad, a retired accountant and gardener, among his many talents, restores antique Chevy trucks. He's probably restored dozens. One day the manual transmission went out on my car at work. It was the middle of summer and blisteringly hot downtown. In typical Daddy fashion, he drops everything to come to my rescue. Within a couple of hours my car was running better than before. I asked, 'Daddy, how did you fix it?' He said, 'There's nothing that bailing wire and duct tape can't fix.'"
- Christine Simmons, Chattanooga
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Karl Brantley Watson Sr.
My father gave me two basic principles to guide my life. First: Get an education (which meant go to college). He attended Grant University (predecessor to University of Chattanooga and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) in 1904 and was on the football team that beat the University of Tennessee 5-0. My three siblings and I are all college trained. The second principle: work for a living. No inheritance, no handouts, no welfare. Work, which I and my siblings also did. Now in my 91st year, I appreciate the lessons I learned by the admirable example of my father, who died in 1964 at the age of 87.
- Loren V. Watson, Chattanooga
***
William G. "Slim" Allen
My father is a veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict. He was an ironworker and traveled all over the U.S. on jobs. While he was gone, my Mom, Louise, raised eight of the dumbest kids anywhere. Seems like none of us are able to do anything right, with "RIGHT" being Pop's way. We always had a garden growing up and he continued after we all had flown the coop. With no one home but him and Mom, he still planted rows of beans that were 40 yards long, numerous tomato plants and another 40 yards of okra, squash and peppers. He also did the canning after Mom couldn't do it. He didn't really slow down until his prostate cancer spread to pelvic and hip bones. So now he has a motorized wheelchair that he can ride outside - and to the garden. Last week he went to inspect the bean and okra rows (only 20 yards this time) after his grandson, Duke, was to have hoed. Unhappy about the manner in which it was done, he went to the house and got his walker, which he held on to while driving the chair. He then proceeded to use the walker while he hoed the beans. I've told him that we'll follow the buzzards and find him face down in the garden and he said that would be a fine way to go. So after the last hoeing incident, Duke wrote the epitaph for his headstone: "Here lies Slim, buried in the bean row. It's all Duke's fault, 'cause he wouldn't hoe."
- Helen Allen Cooper, Walden's Ridge