Our Funny Dad

Daddy had to have eye surgery on Monday in downtown Atlanta.  When I told him that I  planned on taking the day off and offered to have a home-cooked meal waiting for him when he got home, he said that he would need to eat in Atlanta, as soon as he finished the surgery. (Hmm...funny how everyone always wants to eat out when I mention to them I will cook for them...I wonder why that is?) My sister, Jan, offered to drive Daddy and Dale (our wonderful step-mother) and I offered to come along with them and that we would make a party out of it. Without missing a beat, Daddy said, "I'll bring the beer and wine".  Now, he will turn 85 at the end of this month, and I only wish that I could be as quick and as funny as he is!
I hope you will like these photos! That first one was from his birthday party last year, and that was a birthday card that someone had given him and when I asked him to pose with it, that was his idea to pose just like the monkey.  It really captures his playful nature.
 Daddy has had some wonderful dogs in his life.  The dog pictured with him is Hershey and she became very ill and had to be put to sleep a few weeks ago. Can you tell how devoted she was to Daddy? I miss Hershey.  ( I am glad for every pat on the head I gave her and every little piece of meat that I would sneak to her!)  The next photo is from the family reunion in September and that is his nephew, Edward with him and Daddy is joking about the big bottle of Diet Coke and pretending that they will get drunk on that!
What happened at the surgery?  When we got there, he kept saying, "When we get out of here, we are going the the Varsity to get a chili-dog!"  (The Varsity in Atlanta is well-known in Atlanta, it has been there since 1928 and when we were kids, Daddy would take us there and got a kick out of the antics of the young men who would wait on you in your car...sometimes on roller skates!)  After his surgery, we were allowed to go back to see him, and then we all walked out together.  As we came  through the lobby (where the others were waiting for their surgery) he walked slowly past them, solemnly shaking his head, saying quietly..."Don't do it, don't do it".  I saw a man's eyes widen at this and then Daddy breaks out into a big smile and claps his hands and points at the man, saying the same thing but then, the man knows he is "kidding" and you can feel his tension ease.  That is what laughter is all about, isn't it? 
I have written about Daddy before.  If you look in my search engine at the upper right of my blog, you can find and read some of my earlier posts about him.  I think he is the funniest man that I know, even though my husband comes very close!  Time magazine, a few years ago, did a story on aging and studied people from around the world who had lived to a great age and they had two things in common: There wasn't a fat one in the group or a GROUCHY one! (I turned to my husband and said, "Oh no, that counts me out!)

 One other thing, besides being very funny...Daddy will just drop everything to help people and since he loves country music , I have chosen this song for you since it could have been written with him in mind.