That which Rolls

Brian’s dad passed away a few weeks ago and I’ve wanted to write something here for a while, but it’s hard to know what to say. In some ways, for me, it still feels surreal. Even though he’d been in the hospital and then nursing care since March, I feel like the next time we go over to his house, he’ll be sitting there ready to chat.

I’ll miss all the long conversations we would have and the stories he would tell about his travels around the world. He traveled all over but I think the most detailed stories were about him visiting South Korea. We’d talk about his life growing up on a farm in Kentucky, probably because of my background growing up on a farm here. He talked about some of his experiences in the air force during the Cuban Missile crisis though somehow I mostly ended up picturing scenes from Dr. Strangelove. I don’t think he painted the picture that way, but somehow that’s how it came out for me. And he would always tell the true tall tale of the tallest sunflowers ever grown (two stories). I haven’t seen a picture but he has very credible witnesses, so I believe him. I’ve heard there is a picture somewhere so maybe I will see them someday. Some of the stories were in heavy rotation but there was usually some new crazy detail that you’d never heard before. And you could bet if he said “I’ve probably told you this a bunch of times already…. ” it was something you’d never heard before.

I know whenever I hear an Ogden Nash poem I will think of him. Especially one about llamas.

I will miss him. Things just won’t be the same without him.

I keep not publishing this because it doesn’t feel like it’s enough, but I don’t think it ever will be.