George & 2 Oldest Daughters

George & 2 Oldest Daughters
George, Oldest Daughter, and Me, 2nd Daughter 1968.

Caroline and Oldest Daughter

Caroline and Oldest Daughter
Caroline and Oldest Daughter in Photo Booth 1964

Boy George

Boy George
George and younger sister in 1940's

George and his Oldest Daughter

George and his Oldest Daughter
George and His Oldest Daughter 1964 in Photo Booth

Thursday, February 11, 2010

I Am George's Daughter

Hello,

George is my dad. He is now 74 years of age, retired from real estate and banking, played AAA baseball in the 1950's as a pitcher, served a stint in the US Army, and grew up on a 100 acre farm as the son of Slovakian immigrants. Yes was always yes, and no was always no, unless you knew how to negotiate ;)

I have split logs and hauled wood, helped take care of 13 head of Hereford cattle, danced with ethnic dance groups, learned to sing in Greek, Russian, English and other languages, played "burn out" with dad (basically 'mercy' to see who would give up first from how hard the throw hit the glove), competed in marketing and music while in school, survived cancer, raised 3 children as a divorced mother for 15 years, and laughed, cried, loved and raged with and at my father. This blog is a tribute to ALL the father's who encourage their sons and daughters to follow the straight path, reach for their dreams, and encourage them in their life, without victimizing them by trying to exert control. My hat is off to these men. My belief, and hope, is that there are many more men in this world like what I have just described, than we, as a public, hear about from the media stories that saturate the airwaves.

Since I am not certain where to begin, I guess I will start by sharing last year's surprise party I threw for him, at his house. In one week, I planned and invited people from his childhood, working years, and our family to "drop in" on Gorgeous George for a surprise party. We had recently lost his niece, my cousin, to cancer, and she would have loved the idea. I had experienced too many funerals and weddings where we see family, but never any recent gatherings "just because". So, with the pledge of secrecy, and everyone wanting to surprise my dad, I went shopping with my three kids, purchased the food for around 100 people, and hauled it over to his house. He was so trusting that all he asked was "gee, you better be taking this home when we are done, there are too many carbs here. What did you do? Invite your cousin Ed over?" Yeah, right George...one guy is going to make up the difference from 5 people eating as opposed to 100.

His house is meticulously clean, so, just to make certain, I checked the bathroom before guests arrived, and started setting out food on the dining room table. Unleashed the Chinette plates and all the other disposable dinnerware, and tasked out my three teens to keep him busy while I diffused his questions. It was ready, and all the people were set to show up. I had mentioned "open house" style with no set schedule. If anyone had to leave and just wanted to pop in, that was fine. The first to ring the doorbell were two of three sisters that knew my dad since infancy. They were from a neighboring farm and our families have known each other for approximately 80 years. That was when Gorgeous George figured it out. He turned to me in shock and said "I'm going to get you". We all laughed, and the consummate host that is my dad emerged, and enjoyed himself. There were calls from Alaska, North Dakota and emails. Not a single person that didn't make it made the excuse that they had anything other than the desire to be there. I have never met anyone that balked when hearing who my dad is. I usually get the response of a broad smile, a relaxing of posture, and a special George story that they have. We had a wonderful time, and about 46 people showed in all.

This year, it was just the kids and I. Dad threatened to leave town if I tried it again :-) Curiously though, he did buy security cameras two weeks before his birthday. He returned them right after his birthday though. I believe it was really because he never wanted to be surprised on his birthday again. What do you think?????

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