Specifically with respect to our daddy's love
Photo: Dad in his sartorial splendor - including sandals with white socks.
Let me count the ways...
- Answered every question thoughtfully - including if there really was a man in the moon.
- Gave us puzzles and calendars featuring photos of sperm taken with his electron microscope
- Tucked us into bed every night. Then came back to check half an hour later to see if we were really asleep.
- Brought home laboratory bunnies and hamsters for us to love as pets.
- Taught us how to fish
- Investigated the routes of the state department of wildlife fish trucks - so that he could ensure we would catch fish
- Put up with the endless choruses of "how much longer" as we went hiking
- Put up with the endless choruses of "how much longer" when we drove to the mountains
- Put up with the endless of choruses of "how much longer" pretty much all the time we went anywhere
- Would not let us play with toy guns - not even water pistols
- Taught us how to ski
- Showed us how to make beautiful turns on the slope with skis perfectly together, but didn't mind when we pointed the tips forward and just went down straight
- Taught us how to ice skate
- Showed us how to glide with hands behind back, but mainly picked us up off of the ice rink and set us back upright
- Helped us reach our mobile home in the mountains by putting us on a sled and hauling us up the unplowed road during the winter
- Taught us cell biology shortly after we could sit still long enough to look into a microscope
- Wouldn't let us have a color television for years - then when we finally got one made us sit at least ten feet back so our ovaries would not be radiated.
- Helped us stock our mad scientist room with test tubes and other devices
- Took us to Malaysia for a year so we could experience life away from the US
- Went butterfly hunting with us most weekends in the jungle outside of Kuala Lumpur
- Burned the leeches off our legs from going through rivers in the quest for butterflies
- Pointed out all wildlife and foliage of any place we ever went - usually enabled by text or field books purchased for such purpose
- Taught us anatomy lessons at the dinner table when dissecting the chicken
- Didn't get angry when Greg dissected Jenny and Susan's dolls
- Explained to us exactly how many brain cells would die (never to be regenerated) if we became intoxicated
- In assisting with our loose teeth - secured a piece of dental floss around our tooth, tied the other end to the door knob then shut it quickly
- Shared his love for music with us - so long as it was classical - this included removing the stylus from the record player to ensure we didn't play hideous pop music
- Took us to the symphony
- Took us to the chamber music group
- Took us to every museum of every city, state or country we ever visited
- Explained the birds and the bees to us anatomically and precisely in no uncertain terms pretty much before we could read
- Made us dinner most nights -eschewing the typical gender roles of the 60s and 70s.
- Took us to every World War II movie ever made
- Took us to Husky football games
- Took us to Husky basketball games
- Showed us how to develop film in his dark room - mainly so we could help with his sperm pictures
- Introduced us to various professors our favorite of whom was Cornelius, an Australian, who came to the beach with us and wore a red G string.
- Packed our entire family into the Town & Country station wagon, drove down to the drive in theater, and had us all watch Jaws the week before we were going to travel to Hawaii
- Made us get in the ocean in Hawaii despite our fear of anything approaching a shadow due to seeing Jaws.
- Restrained himself from falling completely out of his chair when I brought my first boyfriend - a Pilipino wanna be gangster - to dinner
- Found me my first apartment after my one month experiment of living with the first boyfriend failed
- Did his best to try to set me up with various post-doc students thereafter - though to no avail
- Took me with him to the International Swine Semen Symposium in Europe as a graduation gift
- Walked me down the aisle of my wedding
- Stood by me 14 years later during the divorce
- Came to watch me in trial
- Clipped news articles of interest, photo copied and mailed them to us
- Modelled how to be organized, methodological, respectful,industrious and kind
Happy Father's Day dad - today and every day.
Love Karen