June 19, 2011

Daddy getting ready to walk me down the aisle
on the day I became Julie Akin Pettit.

I always try to keep my blogs fairly short, but today is an exception. It’s Father’s Day and I have so much to say about my dad. There’s never been a day since he died in 2007, that I don’t think of him. Daddy wasn’t a touchy, feely man, but he was very caring, thoughtful and funny.

We moved to South America when I was three and back to Texas when I was six. I remember crying the night before we moved back to Texas because I didn’t want to leave my school and friends. Daddy came in and sat on the floor beside my bed, assuring me it was going to be OK, that I would go to a new school and make new friends. He unpacked my favorite doll so I could sleep with her. Then he stayed with me until I went to sleep.

I’ve never been a water person (don’t like to get my face wet, even in the shower). But one summer in elementary school I wanted to learn to swim and dive off the diving board. Daddy spent every afternoon after work in the pool with me, trying to teach me to swim. Once I could swim (somewhat), he would tread water in the deep end of the pool, coaxing me to dive in the pool because he would be there to catch me. 

When I was in middle school I broke my arm. My mom had to go out of town. On Saturday night Daddy washed and rolled my hair so it would look nice for Sunday school and church. Daddy had very large hands. I have his A&M ring, which falls off my thumb. Yet he sat behind me and rolled my hair with his great big hands fumbling with the pins, all so my hair would look nice.

My senior year in high school I clasped from heat exhaustion on the sideline after halftime. I don’t remember, but was told he jumped the railing to get to me. When I "came to," he was carrying me like a baby off the field to the locker room. The following week my drill team performed for the first time ever without our heavy, hot jackets.

My brother and his wife lost a baby at birth. I was staying with my nephew, who was three at the time (he is now 38). Daddy came to stay with my nephew until my brother got home from the hospital. When my nephew asked Daddy when his mom and dad would be home with the new baby, Daddy didn’t know what to tell a three-year-old boy, so he told him his parents didn’t find a baby they liked at the hospital and they weren’t going to bring a baby home. I always thought this story was sad, but funny.

Daddy was so tall that Kendall was afraid of him when she was small. He started out putting a little piece of candy for her to find in his pants pocket. After several visits he moved the candy to his shirt pocket. By that time, she would let him pick her up so she could reach the treat in his shirt pocket.

I loved Daddy's sense of humor. One Saturday morning he called early to let me know he and my mother were driving to New Braunfels to buy bacon. I ask why did they have to go to New Braunfels to buy bacon? He said Mother thought bacon tasted better after it was hauled across the state. He once told my mom that he needed to buy a new table saw. She asked why and he told her he needed the saw so he could enlarge the garage. When she asked why he needed to enlarge the garage he responded so he would have a place to keep his new table saw. The Christmas before Mr. B and I got married, my mother had been in the hospital. She was getting out in time for Christmas, so Mr. B and I went to help Daddy put up the Christmas tree. Unloading the boxes of Christmas decorations, Daddy commented that he disliked some of the decorations they had had for years. He said we should throw them away and tell Mother that Mr. B did it.

It didn’t matter how old I was, he always thought of me as his little girl and believed he was supposed to take care of me. About six months before he died, Daddy was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. About this same time, he got an infection in his spine that left him unable to walk. He hated that he was ill and I had to make decisions for him. It was never a chore or bother to me. His quality of life was gone, but I was going to make sure he had quality care in the last months of his life.

I have a grandfather’s clock, a desk and a jewelry box that Daddy made for me. I have his wedding band, his college ring, and lots of awards and recognitions he received throughout his career. And I have tons of great memories about a gentle giant.

Today I’m creating brunch for Mr. B because he’s now my father figure.