Menay O; mom to 4, Christian and thrift shopper on the side…

My Dad’s been gone 2 years now. In some ways it feels like he died yesterday and it other ways it seems like he’s been gone longer. I miss him, I really miss him. In ways I never thought I would miss him. I miss telling him things that he would appreciate. Like how it took me all summer to learn how to ride a motorcycle and pass my road test. He would have gotten a big kick out of that. And telling him about work and the people here. Both students and co workers. I come in contact with very interesting and often entertaining people. When I work the after-school program I often talk to the custodian who takes care of the second floor. He is a very colorful smart character. My dad would have loved to hear about him.

I would love to tell my dad that I love my job, and I’m back in school. I never thought those two things would ever happen and he knew that. I know he knows all things about my life but I would have loved to tell him in person and have him be here.

I miss my dads sense of humor. He loved to laugh, be with us and to tell stories of his life. If you were to tell him something that happened to you he could often relate and had a story to tell in return. Nothing brought a smile to his face faster than me telling him something my kids were doing. I remember one time some years ago I had my dad over for lunch when Lelly was like 4yrs old. She insisted on squeezing the mustard on her sandwich. I couldn’t convince her other wise. Of course there was a ton of mustard all over the place after she was done. My dad still brought that up years later and he still laughed.

My husband recently bought a new motorcycle and had it custom pinstriped. It came out unbelievably gorgeous. On the back of his bike he had the guy write “In memory” of his dad and mine. My dad would have loved that. Seriously.

There’s not a Saturday that I go thrifting that I miss telling him about the people I meet and talk to and my great finds of course. He loved to tell me how his mother went to the thrift shop when he was growing up and about the things she found. When I would score a great deal he would exclaim, “It was a shoppers sky!” He really made me laugh and totally understood my love of the thrift.

Two years and I still cry when I write about him. The mark of a great person.