Dad

When the weather gets warmer I wear a corduroy blue pea coat that falls right about where a suit coat would. I caught a glimpse of myself in a store window and I thought "it looks like my dad" - skinny long legs sticking out, leaning slightly forward like I know what I'm going to do next- which is a dad trait. All I needed was to flip my right foot forward like I had nerve damage, and I'd be all set. Well, plus grow a beard.

Dad had to have back surgery when I was in 5th grade, and suffered nerve damage as a result. He had to pick up his right foot and kind of fling it forward rather than take a normal step. Every once and a while I see someone else do this - usually men.

Dad was quite the athlete before this happened. It was HARD for him to take, not like he'd ever complain about it though, or talk about it for that matter. The older he got, the slower he had to walk. When it got close to the end, he'd sit down at the top of the stairs because he needed to take a break. Mom and I would help him up and he was a brick! Like trying to move solid cement. He got a belly when he got older so I thought other parts might have, well, gotten mushy, but they didn't

My dad the brick. I don't think a word of nonsense ever fell from his lips. He said what he meant. True blue.