Sunday, February 08, 2015

It's hard some days...


Watching the Beloved Red Wings was a past time shared by Dad and I. We would spend time together (virtually) watching the games and calling each other after good guy goals and wouldn't call when the bad guys scored. We'd talk about the team, player interviews, Don Cherry's ridiculous suits and ties and anything Red Wings related. If the Wings were obviously going to lose, one or the other would pick up the phone to say "Alright, I'm done, don't bother calling me if you stick with it." If it was a close one the understanding was we wouldn't call if we lost. No point in that! We'd just pick up at the next game. There were even a few superstitions we shared about when the Wings or the other team would score. We would call each other quickly after each goal, lest the other team get the chance to answer with one of their own and cut off our chance to talk to each other. Most of our calls ended with a phrase like "Alright, call you when we go up by two!" if we were leading by one or "Call you when we tie this up" if we were trailing by one. So many phrases were standard we would say them together at the same time, like: "There's still a lot of hockey left!" which was an interchangeable phrase used both when we were down or up. One of Dad's favorites when we were up by more than a goal was his emphatic exhortation to finish out strong: "Skate to the throat!"

Our Wings are doing well right now and I miss being able to call him after a goal. More than a few times I've reached for the phone after a goal, only to catch myself and stop. It's a sad feeling that.

The first game after arriving back home from saying goodbye to Dad was especially hard. I watched most of it through teary eyes and when the Wings won, I broke down and cried. Won't ever be able to share that post game celebration phone call with him again and it hurts.

Apologies for the sporadic and limited posting. We will strive to improve.

Just know gentle reader, that he's in our thoughts daily and is with us wherever we go.

The plan for his ash-spreading soiree is slowly coming together. More to follow on that.

Until then, please hoist an occasional toast and think of him fondly.

And cheer for our Beloved Wings!!

SN1

24 comments:

  1. It is good to see EIP at the top of the queue on my sidebar again.
    I totally understand the reach for the phone reaction.
    It probably will never quite go away entirely.
    That is a good thing.
    I really miss your Dad, too, even though we had only met on the blogs.

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  2. Not a day goes by that I don't think of your Dad.

    I still look for him in the comments. Seriously there's times I think he's still commenting, but only I can see it (hear it?)

    Good to see EIP report in from time to time.

    Best wishes to all of Buck's family. We keep him, and you, in our heart always.

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    1. Thanks OldAFSarge. Appreciate the sentiment!

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  3. Well, now you've got me all teary-eyed, too. I flipped through the channels yesterday and saw a hockey game going on. It made me think wistfully of Buck. I really miss his unique sense of humor -- and his comments. Thanks for posting -- I know it can't be easy, but as Uncle says, it is indeed good to see EIP up on the sidebar again. ("Indeed" -- another of Buck's favorite words!) ;-)

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  4. I lost my dad a couple years back; I definitely understand that 'pick up the phone' impulse, and the sadness when the realization hits. . .

    No apology necessary; even just continuing to post sporadically is above and beyond the call of duty; at least, in my book. . .

    But hey, maybe your dad has got to a place where he can help his beloved Wings even better than before. At least, if their wins and losses are any indication. . . ;)

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    1. Yep, you have to know he's at least lobbying heavily.

      Speaking of which, it just dawned on me that I can now root for the Wings because they're no longer in the West.
      I know I will have to remain neutral when they play the Bruins and for the Sharks ...whenever.
      But that's still an improvement, neh?

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    2. Thanks Uncle Skip! Appreciate the help cheering for the Wings! I can understand about the Sharks, but the Bruins are a different story! LOL!

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    3. Thanks Craig! I guess Dad may have a little influence where he's at now!

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  5. Thanks for keeping up posting, however sporadically. You guys were just really lucky to have a dad for as long as you did, and I know you know that. Continuing to share him with the rest of us is a great good thing to do.

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    1. Thanks Rob! I consider myself VERY lucky everyday that he was a part of my life! And that is just one of my many, great, good things!

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  6. TRUST ME, Major, but there is hardly a day that goes by that I don't think of your Father. And the Wings? I'm a died-in-the-wool Blackhawks fan and your Dad and I used to have a lot of fun gigging each other over the years. I really miss the "feisty repartee." Think of him every time I watch a hockey game of any kind..

    (One of my favorite bartenders in New Orleans--now long deceased--was from Mich and a HUGE Wings fan also...used to tell your Dad I'd had A LOT of practice/experience arguing with Wings fans, so he didn't faze me one bit, lol.)

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  7. And Major, you might appreciate this little tale about my background watching the Wings on TV. I'm your Fathers age and growing up in Illinois in the 50s in the days of B&W TV where we were in rural east-central Illinois the reception was such that we'd often get a lot of snow. But as bad as THAT was in ability to follow the puck, the old Wings rink that preceded the Joe had chicken-wire instead of glass as a protective barrier--when combined with the snow it made it almost impossible to follow the puck--especially on those smaller screen TVs! When I posted that comment your Dad was really surprised. He hadn't known about the chicken-wire as he came to the Wings later than I..

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    1. Virgil, Dad would tell me about some of the back and forth with you about the Wings. The chicken wire story is new to me though! I can only imagine. I hate when the game isn't in HD! Thanks for your comments!

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    2. Virgil,

      Was that WCIA, Channel 3? I told Buck a few times that the only time I saw hockey as a kid was on that channel, and the reception on rabbit ears in Springfield made it hard to make out the players, let alone the puck.

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    3. Rob/

      Yup. We were 50 nm south of Champaign. WCIA was the CBS affiliate (the Spy Channel, lol) and you're RIGHT about the players--took a fertile imagination to figure out what one was really watching,, :)

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    4. The old outdoor hockey rink in my hometown Up North had chicken wire above the boards. I hadn't realized that even NHL rinks had chicken wire back in the day. Jeez, I bet you could really mess up somebody's face grinding it into chicken wire. . .

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    5. Craig/

      Detroit was unique in the NHL even then in the mid-50s as the only remaining rink with chicken-wire..

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  8. I envy you.

    Make no mistake. My dad, born in '35, is slowly slipping away. He was far and away the smartest man I knew. He beat out Colin Powell to be the #1 graduate at Command and Staff School.

    He suffered a minor stroke a couple of years ago. The brilliance is fading away. I don't want it to.

    Neither does he. Like Algernon, he suspects.

    I always felt that Buck could think rings around me if he wanted to.

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  9. You speak of one of those things I still do after more than 20 years of being without My Dad's physical presence. I see something on TV, or hear a piece of music, or taste some particularly good food, and think, "Dad would have loved this." At first, it was a bit painful. I'd think about calling him and telling him to watch or listen to something - knowing he'd laugh or otherwise enjoy it - and then I'd become melancholy at the thought of not being able to do so. As the years have passed, however, I've become aware of how these sorts of things still connect us in a way that is beyond the physical. It is a gift to have known someone well enough and long enough to be able to do that with certainty.

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    1. By the way, there will be special pain if and when the Wings meet my Bruins (which, their being mine, may be Skip's reason for mixed feelings?) Since their move to the East, I looked forward to a friendly wager with Your Dad should the occasion arise; something about displaying the logo of the other team on a blog if they lose, maybe. Now, unfortunately...

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  10. Blogging is the new poetry. I find it wonderful and amazing in many ways.

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