Rolling With My Dad

Wow! Father’s Day is just a couple of weeks away and this Father’s Day will be unlike any other that I have ever experienced. It will be the first Father’s Day without my father. My dad passed away November 1, 2013.

I will find comfort in reminiscing about wonderful memories I have of him. My dad was such a cool and dapper dude! I think every little girl thinks her dad is the “Greatest Dad” in the world. Well, I know that’s how I felt about my dad and I still do to this day.

One of my most memorable moments with my dad was when I was about 10 years old and one Sunday afternoon he drove me to our neighborhood skating rink. He would normally just drop me off and keep on moving and be out in the parking lot to pick me up after skating was over. But, on this particular Sunday he decided he would come in. I didn’t have a problem with that because I thought my dad was cool and I was proud to walk into the rink with “my daddy.” I couldn’t wait to lace up my roller skates and show my dad my skating skills. He knew I could skate, but he hadn’t seen me get down and do my thang! At this point, I had been skating regularly for 7 years and your girl had developed some skills (at least I thought so at the time). So, I was eager to show off to my dad. To my surprise, not only was Daddy coming into the roller skating rink to watch his “only” child get her skate groove on, he was going to get on the hardwood floor himself.

I watched my dad lace up his tan weathered rental skates and when he stood up he looked like a long lean light post on wheels. My dad was 6′ 3″ with a slim build and with roller skates on he was about 6′ 6″. He unsteadily walked on the carpeted floor and moved toward the entrance to the skating rink floor. I watched attentively as he patiently waited for a break in the zooming crowd of skaters and got onto the rink floor. I immediately took to the floor and caught up with my dad and we skated together hand in hand.

The DJ put on a fast tempo jam and I dropped my dad’s hand and darted off to skate on my own. I lapped my dad several times, but I eventually saw him get his rhythm and speed up. He was actually grooving — he was skating pretty wide leg and bouncing and swaying from side to side with long strides. He was clearly in his own world. But then all of a sudden, I saw a young daredevil little boy attempt to skate through the gap between my dad’s legs as he took a long wide-leg stride to the right. Whoa, what a sight! Needless to say, it was a roller skating catastrophe. Nobody was seriously hurt but I’m quite sure the bruises appeared later. My dad decided to be done with his trip-down-memory-lane roller skating adventure. He took off his rentals, got a soda and sat and watched me skate for the rest of the session.

I have many memories of my dad and this by far is one of my fondest. I will miss my dad on this first Father’s Day without him, but I’ll always have loving and vivid memories of him and the wonderful times we’ve shared together. I love you daddy…roll bounce, baby!