I have so many good memories of my Dad. As a Dad, he did so many things for me and my older brother because he loved us so much. He often shot baskets in the backyard with us on the old rim that hung over the house. He played catch countless times with us. At Christmastime, Dad knew how much we loved sports and would fill our stockings with fruit and packs of baseball cards. It was a great surprise that I looked forward to every Christmas.
The last movie Dad took me to was Star Wars in 1977. I was so excited to see it. For me, it lived up to the hype. Dad didn't get it. When we left, he said, "I didn't understand what the hell was going on." That still cracks me up. Show my Dad a good cowboy movie and he's a happy man!
Dad was always so proud of his Slovenian background. Dad's parents came over on a boat into Ellis Island. His parents then met in Cleveland and eventually moved to Warren, Ohio, where they married and had Frank. Frank was an only child. Growing up in the Strukel house meant many hours of polkas, nutbread, and blood sausage. Don't ask me about the blood sausage. I never had it and never will! Anyway, throughout his life, Dad always loved his polkas. On Thursdays, Massillon Cable broadcasts a polka show at 7 p.m. Dad always watched it. He loved it. Dad was so proud to say he's Slovenian and loved polkas.
When Dad married and had me and my brother, he was living in Massillon. He loved the outdoors. Watching birds flock to the bird feeder was fun for him. He could sit for hours and be amazed at the different kinds of birds that would visit. He also loved to garden. Growing tomatoes, onions, and sometimes concord grapes in the backyard was something he did every spring. When the tomatoes started to ripen, Dad would often say, "Check my crop"...which meant we needed to go see what we could harvest from the garden. It was a small garden but many times, it produced some pretty good stuff.
More later...
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2 comments:
Great story. sounds like a family life we all would like to have had.
Hi Struke. I'm behind in reading the blogs I like to visit, but I'm trying to catch up now.
Your Dad sounds a lot like the way mine was. My Dad liked to listen to polkas too (he was mostly of German descent). He even played the accordion! :) He also liked to garden and to watch the birds.
You have some wonderful memories of your Dad. Sounds like he was a true family man and that you and your mom and your brother were lucky to have had him in your lives. I enjoyed hearing about him.
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