Fourteen Years in the Blink of an Eye

14 years ago, and a few hours ago, I got the call that my daddy was dead.

At 52 years of age, a car accident took him from us.

Was he perfect?  Heck no.  He was gruff, often sounded mad, and stunk at staying in touch, but he was mine.  He taught me to tie my shoes, ride a bike, built a pair of stilts for us to play on, did fun things when I least expected them,  taught me to change the oil in my car, and change the brakes, taught me to work hard and always to the best of my ability.

He only met my husband to be a couple of times and never met my girls.  I told him about my engagement over the phone, but he was gone 2 weeks later so never saw me get married.

Every year I look for ways to remember him.  He died before the age of taking pictures all the time so I’ve about reached the end of my collection, but last night we were at the county fair, and while I don’t remember us going to the fair often as a kid, the fair last night had something that very much brought my daddy to mind.

Tractors.

Farmall H and Allis Chalmers to be exact. Those were two models I know he and my grandpa Dussel shared over the years.

This Allis Chalmers happens to be from the same year my dad was born.

I’ll just be over here shedding a few tears.