Welcome to Day 9 of this celebration of my Dad’s 100th birthday! Here is today’s Father Memory: Daddy was quite an independent scholar. He spent a lot of evening time reading, usually non-fiction, just soaking up information. Mother tells me he used to clean out the city library on whatever topic he was currently into, and I believe it. Trains, wars, the stock market, you name it. Whenever he talked about ANYTHING, it seemed, he always displayed a very thorough knowledge. I remember a time when one of us asked how our family name, Lawless, originated. He gave an answer that quickly developed into a history lecture, probably 30 minutes long, with the whole family listening spellbound. He ended up telling all about the family’s immigration to America from Ireland and about the Kentucky tribe moving west until they settled at Belle Plaine, Kansas, his boyhood home. The clearest part of this memory is best described as total, jaw-dangling fascination. Mixed into that were feelings of admiration for my Daddy, the brilliant lecturer, and a kind of thrill of discovery to learn so much about my own personal roots. Looking back on this now, I dearly wish that the clearest part of this memory had been his WORDS. I’ve forgotten most of what he actually said, and that’s a real shame. I thought about this not long after he died. He took most of his knowledge with him, not because he didn’t share it, but because we didn’t pay close enough attention. I wish we had a tape recording, or that someone had taken notes! Because of that, my memory of this now is tinged with regret and a sense of loss. I miss him.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 11:39:35 +0000
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