Hey Dad! Happy Fourth of July week!
I am a few hours away from making my road trip up to Pittsburgh to spend the rest of the week/weekend with Kelly’s family. This will be the third Fourth of July that I have spent up there, first one without Kelly though! I am really excited to see everyone. I am hoping that traffic is going to cooperate with me this afternoon; I am not getting my hopes up though. I miss this time of the year with you. I know exactly what we would be doing if you were here…Sitting out on the back porch with dogs on the grill and beers in our hands. I would bring my Bose speakers outside to blast some of our music and we would just kick it. I miss those times. You and mom always made every holiday memorable, but I must say, there was one holiday that I will never forget…you know which one I am talking about (Fourth of July when I was a teen and Blair was just a kid). We were still living back in Lake Devereux….ring a bell yet? If not, here it goes; I am totally calling you out….
I think we had spent the early evening up at Lee District, riding the rides, stuffing our faces with snow cones and cotton candy, anxiously awaiting the fireworks display. After a hot day, crowds and a mediocre fireworks display, you decided that we would continue this celebration back at the house. After fighting the traffic home from Lee District, you disappeared into the crawl-space, Blair and I were wondering what you were getting down there… looking back, we should of known you had a secret stash of something down there….apparently you thought it was a good idea to keep illegal explosives tucked away in the crawl-space until a special occasion were to arise! Heck yes! I remember you walking up the steps with fireworks in your arms and Blair and I looking at you like you were so cool. Were you really going to take us out back and let us light off fireworks? Absolutely not. You were going to take us out FRONT and light them in the street so everyone could see! Not only did you want to light up the night sky over Dreams Way Court, you thought it would be funny to light some of the really loud ones on people’s driveways and hide before they could see who was doing it. Well…. as I am sure you remember, there was a neighbor who did not think it was very funny (come on party pooper, it’s a holiday!) but anyway she was screaming off her front porch to stop and threatening to call the cops on whoever was shooting off the fireworks. Blair and I hid and were watching from a distance, trying hard not to laugh or breathe too loudly. We were hiding behind a bush, wondering where our adult father was hiding and snickering at the fact that we knew you were going to at least light one more in her driveway before the night was over. Now any other dad would have gone to apologize and called it a night. But you were much cooler than any other dad. You looked at Blair, Mom and I and simply said, go make sure the fireworks are hidden in case the cops come. We went back into the house and heard another round of the dynamite-style fireworks go off in the neighbor’s driveway and saw a man casually walking towards our house like he had nothing to do with what just happened that man was YOU! That night was so much fun. Memories like this make me laugh and sob at the same time. I laugh at all the fun and crazy things we did over the years, but get really sad when I realize that all I will ever have now is memories. There will be no new events or story’s to tell with you in them and that really sucks. No more crazy Dad doing crazy things that no other Dad in their right mind would do. I think this year you should go back to that woman’s house and light up the driveway. Hahahaha
Let’s see, what else is going on….This past weekend I went down to Skip’s house. He put in an in-ground pool and it is amazing. I was very impressed considering he did most of the work himself. He built a full wrap around deck/lounge area, a Tiki Bar and is working on completing the bathroom, yes, an outdoors bathroom (how awesome!?). I spent Saturday at his house, with him, Beth and Buddy lounging at the pool and drinking some beers while getting a tan! Later that evening we went to Jiffy Lube Live (formerly Nissan Pavilion) to see Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden play. We had a really fun time, I was really impressed with both bands, seeing as they are pretty old and can still rock out! Skip, Buddy, Alison, and two of Alison’s friends went. Talk about a fun time! We were driving out of the parking lot on the way home and everyone was talking about how awesome the concert was…Alison and her friends said they would never be able to get their dads to go to a concert like the one we just attended. Skip looked at me through the rearview mirror and said, “Your dad would definitely go to a show like this one.” Hell yeah you would go to a show like that.
These past two months I have been attending a lot of concerts, all have which have been at no cost to me, how sweet is that? I went to Van Halen, Nickelback, Bush, Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden. I feel very fortunate to have such a great friend and family circle, they hook me up left and right with awesome opportunities!
I am listening to Pandora (imagine that) and Weezer came on. Guess what song…. “Say it Ain’t So”! It reminds me of you because I remember all the times we listened to it on the way to soccer. I have been thinking about our soccer days a lot lately, I truly miss playing. Not just playing, but Sting, Dean, Dave, and traveling to all the tournaments. Those truly were some of the best years of my life. I cannot believe that they are over, where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday you were dropping Ash Houck and me off at camp GIVA….or driving me down to UNC to play there for the week. So many good memories, hard to believe I have not touched a soccer ball in three or more years.
Well dad, I am going to get back to work, just wanted to wish you a happy Fourth of July! Love and miss you so much, DUDE! Tehe
 |
| I read this and thought of you, totally something you would say! LOL. |
