on Fathers Day, and every day...

Dad, when you left this world, you were never truly ever gone.  Memories keep you close...smells, tastes and sights enhance the recollection...  Yesterday was Fathers Day.  I miss you every single day, and the hurt I experienced when you passed away 9 years ago has never gone away.  On special "occasions", such as Fathers Day, the hurt is a little stronger.  In tribute to you, my awesome father, I thought I'd compose a list of things that have, and will always, remind me of you:

-Irish Spring soap.
-BRUT cologne (only on special occasions, of course).
-calligraphy pens.
-fried eggs with a dash of garlic powder (sometimes way more than a dash).
-La cucaracha, la cucaracha... (I had no idea you were singing about a cockroach, and, I'm pretty sure the only words you got right were "la cucarcha").
-Chap Stick - the black, original kind only, of course.
-turkey stuffing - your own secret recipe.  Todd gets close, but it's never truly been the same.
-beer and Clamato juice (blech!).
-Molson Canadian Lager.
-air-popped popcorn with a tall glass of Crosby's lemonade (made with a little extra water, because if you didn't, it would be too strong).
-The New York Islanders (particularly the 1980-83 seasons) when we watched them prevail (even listening to the New York radio station when the game wasn't being aired on CBC), all while enjoying your popcorn & lemonade you made special, just for the game.
-Archie Bunker
-lighthouses.
-Navy ships or anything to do with the sea, really.
-Dentyne gum (the classic, small stick cinnamon flavored kind); you used to drive me nuts when you chewed it.
-Nikita by Elton John.  You wore that tape out because you'd only listen to that one song on the one side.  The tape deck in the Tempo (or was it the Escort?) had a button where you'd flip the tape to the "B" side and you'd go back and forth in that same section of tape.  What was the other song? "Wrap her Up", maybe?
-John Wayne movies.  Remember when I worked at the video store and brought home the life-size cardboard cutout of John Wayne?  He stood in the basement for so many years...

I hope I always hold on to these memories.  I'm blowing kisses up to Heaven...Happy Fathers Day, Dad....love and miss you, forever xoxoxo.