Not to be depressing, but today would have been my dad’s 73rd birthday. I say this because it suddenly hit me as I was sitting at my desk, trying to figure out what to do next. The date just came flying out of the air and hit me like a ton of bricks.

My dad died when I was five-years-old. That’s hardly enough time to get to know someone, especially when the majority of your time is spent soiling yourself and eating dirt (referring to myself, not my dad). Most of the time I’m not sure if I remember my father, or I’m remembering other people’s memories? I can’t say for sure how my dad smelled, but I’m sure he had a smell all his own (most dads do). I imagine it was pretty Old Spicey.

I remember sharing beer with my dad. I had this tiny little beer mug that he would pour a swig into and I’d get to share a moment with him. (I remember this one clearly. This isn’t a perceived memory.) I remember “taking rides” on his stomach. He’d lie on the couch and I’d lie on top of him. He’d breathe. I’d go up and down. (It was the seventies. I was five. There wasn’t much else to do.)

Other odd things I remember were the glasses he and my mom drank cocktails out of. They had the same patter on the bottom that you’d find on a meat tenderizer. I remember visiting his office and usually walking out with some sort of weird trinket. I remember his car. I remember going to the football games he coached.

Anyway, today being his birthday I began thinking about the things that have come about since 1978 that my dad would enjoy.

1. Picture-in-Picture. That way he could watch more than one football game on Sundays.
2. CD/Cassette players in the car. Very few radio stations play Vaughan Monroe these days.
3. DVD players. My dad loved westerns and war movies. If he saw The Searchers on DVD, in wide screen, with a good sound system . . . he’d be in heaven.
4. Borders. My dad loved to read books on war and the Wild West as much as he loved the movies. Borders has both.
5. Microwave popcorn. Five minutes and you’ll have theater corn. No oil, no monitoring.
6. Cable.
7. Being a grandpa.

Things he may not like:
1. I’m not sure they make station wagons in his signature color of red anymore.
2. Brittany Spears (although he’d have some great comments about her).
3. The Kiel Center. Or the Savvis Center, whatever the hell it is. I’d have to agree. It doesn’t quite match up to the Arena.
4. The fact that Dances With Wolves was listed as one of the top ten Westerns of all time.

So, anyway . . . just wanted to say Happy Birthday Dad, where ever you are. Give mom a kiss for me, would ya?

And tell her we’re all okay.