Dad Fixed it Blog

  Okay so I believe I can remember (with the help of my siblings) where my admiration for my father’s work ethic started to inspire me. It was my forth birthday and we were celebrating in the house my parents had recently purchased. I did not know anything more about this house other than this house was big enough that only two, out of the five of us, had to share a bedroom. This was an amazing upgrade from three boys in one room and two girls in another. I did not consider the house being old and run down with rotten siding, doors that didn’t close, some that did not open. The walls to our amazing new bedrooms missing one important item……sheetrock. Rooms without doors all together. One thing that does stick out in my mind are the floors of that house. Not that I thought the rotten flooring was ugly or the creaking every step you took was annoying, but those nasty boards swallowed up the table which my birthday cake sat upon. I don’t recall my reaction, however if I was anything like I am now I am sure there was a lot of stomping and crying.  Common sense being overcome by anger, I am sure I stomped on those old boards not thinking of what the consequences of that action might have been. I do imagine my dad would not have let that carry on for more then a second or two. His reaction to the floor giving way I do remember. He was not overwhelmed, he was not yelling he was not visibly upset at all. He just started fixing. I don’t know if he had ever had to fix floor joists before, but he did it. I don’t remember whether he went to use the phone or not however I would not be surprised if he had given his dad a call for the best plan of attack. 

               I don’t remember what he put together for a table to finish my party, but I do remember that he did. From that point on I was certain there wasn’t a break my dad could not fix; and believe me between that old house and the five of us kids, things were going to break and break pretty often. Me and the family.

 Okay so I want to take a moment and discuss pets. We had many over the years some I remember (Nellie, Mopsy, Criket, Mayflower, Abby, Kittie Boots to name a few) some I do not. Before I can recall my siblings tell me we had a St. Bernard. I have seen pictures so I am inclined to believe them. I want to focus on the dogs here. All of our dogs had personalities, I bet I could talk about the dogs demeanor and my siblings would be able to tell you exactly which dog I was referring to.

Nellie and Mopsy were cocker spaniels, Mopsy was tan/brown and Nellie was black. Mopsy was a great dog, very friendly……Nellie on the other hand, well do you remember Little House on the Prairie? Well the name seems to fit the personality. You didn’t know if she was going to be nice or snap at you.

Criket was a coon dog. She was one of my brother’s dogs. If I can recall correctly Cricket was a boy. He was a pretty good dog as long as you did one thing correct. When feeding and watering Cricket you had to do it in a precise order or risk getting bit. Cricket had to be given the water dish first and then the food dish. If you reversed this process he would think you were trying to steel his food and defend it.. viciously. Unfortunately a family friend did not heed our warning and decided to give the dog its food then water. They got bit.

Mayflower was a beagle we only had a short time as he got very sick shortly after we got him.

Abby was my yellow lab. She was a great dog except she would run away quite often. On two occasions she was hit by vehicles. On the second occasion she showed up at the house all scraped up and a bit of a limp. About 10 minutes later a woman from up the road showed up in tears to let us know she had hit our dog and was unable to find it. Well Abby hobbled around the corner to great her at the door with a wagging tail and swaying midsection. Needles to say the neighbor was relived. 

At this point you may be wondering why I am talking about dogs in my fixed it blog. Well I’m getting there. You see when these dogs got older or had bitten someone to the point of drawing blood it was my Dads responsibility to put them down. He had to fix it. This is one of those fixes Dads do not get praised for. Children don’t look up with starry eyes thinking “what a hero he just put down the dog”, no they give hateful looks and think of how awful Dad must be to put down our dog.

Well I am learning this first hand as my 17 year old (yes 17) Siberian Husky, Skyy, had to be put down this week. My children are not too young anymore and so I hope there is more understanding then when I was a child, however I do now see what a hard thing it is. The feeling of losing a friend as well as disappointing your children all at once. It is one of those fixes I don’t wish on Dads out there however if you have dogs or cats or other critters the time will come where you will have to feel this as well. I am glad for the pets I had as a child and the pets I have had since. I think God blessed us with these pets for many reasons one of those reasons I believe is for children to learn to cope with and understand loss. I by no means compare the life of an animal with that of a person but at a young age it can be heart wrenching.