Day 4 - My Parents

Day 4 of the 30 Days of Blogging

I have mentioned in a previous post that my Mom has had a rough life. It started off when she was 3, when her Mom died of leukemia. Her Dad was an alcoholic, and was no longer married to her Mom. Her Mom was remarried, and had another son. When her Mom died, her brother went with his Dad, and she went to live with her Grandparents. They raised her and loved her, and her aunts and uncles became her sisters and brothers. She got pregnant young, married young, was not with him long. A few years later she meets Tommy and falls head over heels for him. They get married and she moves to New York with him. Soon after she finds out she is pregnant, so they pack up and move to South Carolina where his family is from. He drives a taxi and Mom is a stay at home mom. They have another son, who is hydrocephalic, and has to undergo numerous surgeries. It wasn't even 2 years after their youngest was born, Tommy goes missing. They find him days later, he was shot. He was robbed by four men for a measly $20, and they shot him in the back of the head. My Mom is a mess, she is in South Carolina so far away from her family in Ohio, she has 3 kids, and her husband was just murdered. She is not starting her period, and come to find out, she is pregnant. With this news, she makes the decision to move back to Ohio. She moves back here, has her 4th child, and then buys a house. Her brother and his friend put in new cabinets for her. This friend, he takes a liking to Mom, and just absolutely adores her kids. And the beautiful thing, is that her kids adore him too! This friend was Pete, my Dad. Mom dates him, marries him, they have me, and then they divorce. But the amazing thing, is that they stayed friends, and not just friends, absolute best friends. My Dad still came to our house for every holiday. Even once my Mom remarried. My Dad befriended Mom's new husband - they would go hunting together, sit around and watch sports and drink beer. They would go to Canada and stay in a cabin together and fish. And when my Dad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, he even moved in with my Mom and stepdad for a few months. And he would have stayed longer, but the stepdad was cheating on my Mom, so he wasn't the same person, and my Dad could tell that, so he moved in with my brother.

On to my Dad - I don't know much about him from before he and my Mom got together. I do know that he was married before, and they had 2 kids, and he adopted his first wife's oldest daughter. I know that he was in the Korean War, but he would never talk about it. I learned after he passed that his last name was not his father's last name, that it was his mothers maiden name, and that he didn't have anything to do with his father - and that his father was a bootlegger. What I know first hand is that he is by far the most amazing man I will ever meet. He would do anything to help anyone out, including give the shirt off his own back. I also know that he spoiled me rotten. He would buy me anything I ever wanted, and he would take me on vacation to Daytona Beach every year on Spring Break, and let me take a friend. He loved seeing me happy. And I also know that he was the strongest man ever. Nothing ever got him down. Well, that is until the cancer hit. I also know that he would love his grandkids, and spoil them even more than he ever spoiled me. He would love to watch them play sports, and he would love how smart they are, and he would love how rotten they are. And I know my kids would just absolutely adore him. I can just picture him sitting there, watching them play, and just laughing at the silly things they do and say. I know it was his time to go, but I still wish he could have been here longer. I still wish he would have gotten to meet my kids, and that they would have gotten to meet him.

There is so much more that I could say about my parents. I really could go on and on. My Mom is amazing. My Dad was amazing. I am so lucky to have them as my parents. That even though their marriage didn't last, their friendship was so very strong. And that has always meant the most to me. When I was young, I always wanted them to get back together. But, once I was older, I realized why they didn't. They loved each other, and they loved each other deeply. But it was as best friends, not as a married couple. And I couldn't have asked for anything better than that.


Mom & Dad on their wedding day
I love you Mom and Dad.
I miss you Dad, so very much.