My parents were loved by many people they had met in their 52 years of marriage. They complimented each other very well. Dad was outgoing and fun loving while mom was practical and frugal. Together they raised 4 children and in their retirement were still able to enjoy life on the road and on the high seas.
My father had a thirst for knowledge. He was often found reading something that would expand his mind or watching something on the television that would have the same result. He was easy to talk to and very much enjoyed traveling the world. He did quite a bit of that traveling when he was in the navy and continued after his many years of working hard to provide for his family. Although he had no clue how to balance a checkbook or deposit a check, he did know how to find the best deals on a cruise.
My mother was a bookkeeper by trade and was meticulous in her organization. She was creative and quite often made the things she needed. She was a bit of a pack rat, which irritated my father until he needed something off the wall and my mother just happen to have one of those handy. She loved all things old. If it was rusty, it was a treasure. She collected those rusty treasures as items to help shape her gardens into works of art. She was also fascinated with puzzles of all sorts. There were always sudoku, crossword and variety puzzle books in progress and she enjoyed working on jigsaw puzzles during the cruises they would often take.
My parents, like everyone, had their strange quirks and odd behaviors. My father was always in shorts and a t-shirt unless he was forced to dress up. My mother did not wear a lot of makeup, but she was very particular about her hair, losing her hair during chemo was probably the worst part of treatment for her. Fortunately we found an excellent wig that matched her own hair so well that people just did not notice. My parents were playful with each other, they would make up rhymes all the time. When one of us would call and ask to speak with mom, my father would say, “Hold on a sec.” and then raise the pitch in his voice trying to mimic my mother’s and say, “Hello.” When I was little my mother had partial dentures and we would beg her to make her vampire face, she hated doing that and I am sure regretted every doing it the first time, but she would comply by turning around, pulling her denture down and then whip back around to scare the beejezus out of us. Dad was afraid of mice and mom liked rap music.
My parents always kissed when they were parting company, just in case something should happen to them. When mom returned home from shopping or any other place she left for, dad would always say the same thing, “Did ya see anyone you knew?” Dad liked birds, but hated cats. Mom loved all animals, especially gorillas.
Dad passed away at 10am on Monday, April 7, 2014. Mom passed away at 5pm on Sunday, September 7, 2014.