Day 13 ~ March SOLSC

Whenever I write about my dad, I always write about things I miss about him, or about his accomplishments, or what I’d do if he was still here.  But tonight, I’m taking a try at capturing a memory from a long time ago.

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(bbbrrrriiiinnnngggg, bbbrrriiiinnnnggg, bbbrrriiinnnggg)

“Hello?”

“Hey Jen, it’s Dad.”

“Hi Daddy!  What’s up?”

“Just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna be coming out to visit the Bursar today.”

Whenever it was time to register for the next semester, my dad had to come out with the check to pay my balance.  Debit cards didn’t exist back then and he did not like to use credit cards.

“Oh great!  I’ll be able to register for my classes now.”

“Yup.  I’ll hang out for a little while too and make you girls dinner.  Sound good?”

“Sure Daddy.  Can’t wait to see you!”

He drove 2 hours to take care of business and then came to hang out in a house full of 21 year old girls.  We went shopping for groceries and for stuff to make dinner.  He made us pasta and sausage and we had “family” dinner – just my dad and my friends.

“Ok, I’m going to get ready to head home.”

“Why don’t you just leave early in the morning?  You can sleep a little and then get on the road.  You don’t want to drive tired and all by yourself in the dark, do you?”

He looked at me (stared right into my eyes), smiled, and then shook his head in agreement.  Without a doubt, he heard my voice crack and saw the worry on my face.  While my friends and I cleaned up, he went to my room and was asleep before we even had the dishes put away.

Sometimes, my worrying stops me from doing things, but this one time it stopped my dad from leaving and let us have a few extra hours together (even if he slept a lot of it).

I’m participating in the March Slice of Life Story Challenge!  Thank you to the team of writers at Two Writing Teachers for this wonderful writing community.  A place for us to grow together as writers.