Hannon Halloween

Like other holidays, Dad always helped make Halloween fun in our home growing up. I have lots of fun memories of up all sitting around the table as we took turns deciding what kind of nose or mouth we should carve into the pumpkin. Dad would scoop out the gooey insides, of course saving the seeds for roasting, and carve funny or scary faces as dictated. We would adorn the windows and porch with festive decorations. I remember one time making tombstones and legs out of old pants, shoes and some two-by-fours sticking up out of the ground. Mom would usually take us trick-or-treating, while Dad stayed home to hand out candy. He was a kid at heart and loved playing spooky sounds on his karaoke machine as he spoke into the microphone to scare the bigger kids. Sometimes he would dress up and pretend he was a dummy sitting in the rocking chair until some poor, unsuspecting trick-or-treater was on the porch and then would scare them - always in a nice way though. After we were home, Mom and Dad would look through all of out candy to make sure it was safe. Dad would always pick out a nice piece of chocolate "to make sure it wasn't poisoned" and scarf it down! I sure do miss his silly antics!

How To Put On Underwear

"Brown to the back; Yellow to the front."

Dad's Laugh

This video is of Seth pretending to be the ringmaster at the circus, but it has Dad's one of a kind laugh in the background. I miss that laugh everyday, but will never forget it!

Things I want to do with or for Sophia (and future children) because of Dad:

1.) Jingle bells outside of my children's windows on Christmas Eve
2.) Have the kids leave Santa shrimp and beer instead of Milk and Cookies (and a carrot for Roudolph)
3.) Surprise the kids with a swimming pool or trampoline
4.) Sing Christmas carols as we go look at Christmas lights
5.) Go for midnight swims with the kids
6.) Take the kids roller skating/bike riding inside a department store.
7.) Put 110% effort into their school projects (One time Dad helped me build an entire train set on a plywood cut out of the state of Pennsylvania. The train stopped at various places around the state and we would talk about different cities in Pennsylvania. Whydidn't we keep that?!?!)

I'll be adding to this list as the memories continue...

You Belong To Me - Patsy Cline

For as long as I can remember, Mom and Dad would sing this song in the car while we were on trips. It's been playing in my head all night.



See the pyramids along the Nile
Watch the sunrise from a tropic isle
Just remember darling all the while
You belong to me

See the market place in old Algiers
Send me photographs and souvenirs
Just remember when a dream appears
You belong to me
I'd be so alone without you
Maybe you'd be lonesome too and blue

Fly the ocean in a silver plane
See the jungle when it's wet with rain
Just remember till you're home again
You belong to me

I'd be so alone without you
Maybe you'd be lonesome too in blue

Fly the ocean in a silver plane
See the jungle when it's wet with rain
Just remember till you're home again
You belong to me

Words of Wisdom

"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."

Two Months

Today marked two months since Dad's passing. In someways it seems like much longer; in some ways it seems like only yesterday. It's so odd, so final, that I still cannot wrap my head around it. How can it be possible that I will never see my Dad again? I have never gone more than a week without speaking to him. How is it that I will never speak to him again? We all still had so much to learn from him, so many fun times left to share. We needed him here and there is nothing we can do to bring him back. We are all missing him terribly today. We will all miss him everyday for the rest of our lives.

When tossing a coin...

Dad used to always say, "Heads I win; Tails you lose." He won every time.

Working with Dad

I was at work the other day and had a memory pop into my head. I was 14 or 15 and Dad was a Brand Central Manager at Sears. There were numerous times that Dad would ask us to come in a help him get his store ready for a big visit or a big sale. One morning it was just Dad and me. We got there early in the morning before any of his sales people. He would get some coffee for himself and hot chocolate for me. As we enjoyed our drinks, we had a morning meeting to
set the game plan to get ready for the event. We would get everything we needed to clean and organize and then get started. He would start on one end, I on the other; windex and rag in hand. Those appliance were spotless as we met in the middle. He showed me how to read the planograms to make sure they were in the right order. Then onto electronics with dusters in tow. As his employees came in, we had a good bit completed. He would have to carry a phone and run the show as he did often for Sears. He asked if I wanted to go into the mall or work some more. Of course I wanted to go to the mall, but I didn't want to let him down. So he told me a couple more things to do. Lunch time came, and he took me to lunch at the food court. He would tell a couple of war stories, of which he had a million, as I just listened and learned. When we came back, a couple of his employees heckled him for bringing in his son to work. He said with such pride, "I wanted it done right". I think that pretty much shut them up. It might have been against the rules to have me there cleaning; but looking back, I long for those days again and appreciate the lessons of retail that my Dad shared with me, not only that day, but also in the years following his retirement.
I know that all the time spent with Dad at work led me to my own career path. October 1st I celebrated my 11 year anniversary with Lowe's. He taught me a lot of what I know, and as a manager I apply those lessons that he shared. We all thought we would have more time with him and with that time could learn a little more. I cherish the time I did have with him and long for the vast knowledge that we did not have time to share, but feel lucky to have had the lessons few managers will ever have the privilege of learning.

Happy Bird Day!

When I was sixteen, I wanted what every teenager wanted for their birthday...a car of course! Although Mom and Dad were unable to get me a car for my birthday, Dad made sure to get me something he knew I'd love...a bird! I know Mom didn't have much input on this decision because she hated birds! One of our neighbors had a quaker parrot named Pidge (pidgeeee) that they were getting rid of. Dad arranged it so I got the bird for my birthday. He even had "Happy Bird Day" written on my birthday cake that year. It may not have been the convertible in my dreams, but I know how much Dad loved me and wanted to get me something out of the ordinary. Everyday, not just on birthdays, Dad found a way to make us all feel special.

My Dad's Nuts

No, not like that. Well, he was a little nutty, but in a good way.

I'm up in Charlotte visiting. As good as it is to see everyone, each time I'm up here, I'm so aware that someone is missing. Everyone has gone to bed. Dad would have been up if he were here. He probably would have asked me to pick out a good movie for us to watch. I'd have dug through the giant pile of old VHS movies that have been collecting since 1981, before deciding on A Few Good Men for the hundred and first time. About half way through the movie, he'd have headed into the kitchen and fixed us a midnight snack. Maybe some pepperoni and cheese with some crackers and a little hot mustard. Man, am I gonna miss those midnight snacks.

I actually just hit up the kitchen for a little midnight snack myself and as I was rummaging through the freezer, I spotted a little envelope. I pulled it out and saw that it was the last of a bag of pistachios. The bag was folded over and cut down to size - just big enough to hold the remaining nuts. They had even been shelled, I imagine one night about this time, then tucked them away for a rainy day.

We often had pistachios around the house growing up. Dana used to call them 'spinachios'. Every year, Grandma and Papa would wrap up a giant bag for Christmas and stick them under the tree. In the evenings, our family would often snack on them. Those nuts got us through many a winter snacks! In recent years, Dad carried on the nutty tradition as we all got similar packages under the tree.

There is an art to eating pistachios. First of all, you've gotta have the right nut. None of that colored, red crap. You want the all natural pistachios, preferably with the word 'colossal' somewhere on the bag. You place the nut in your mouth and suck the salt off. Then, carefully place it between your front teeth, with the opening facing down, and bite down until the shell pops open revealing that delicious, green prize. Repeat until the bowl is filled with shells and mouth is chapped and puckered from the salt.

Well, I wasn't sure what to do with the pistachios but I decided to eat them. They were salty and sweet and delicious. And I felt terribly guilty for eating them. God, I wish he could be here to eat those nuts. It's funny how everything reminds me of him. A song in a movie. My little boy's dimples. My mom's sad eyes. A nut. But, I wouldn't trade it. I want to remember. Thanks for the snack, Dad. I miss you.