Remembering the past with Dad

My father has been gone for many years, but it's Father's Day and I've taken time to think about the past and remember him. 

My father, Abe, was a simple man. He was well liked by everyone, he loved to laugh, "kibbitz" as we said, and was always there to help others. If anyone was in need, my father was there. Nothing was too much to ask him. 

He didn't have a lot of money after his business went bankrupt, but he had a lot of heart. He worked long hours to pay back his business debt and was only home to rest on Sundays. 

We had a large row house in the city of Trenton with three floors, 5 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms (which was unusual in those days.) The house was almost 100 years old when we bought it for ($10,000), and I remember it had two staircases. One that was from the living room and a back staircase from the kitchen (I think for servants). The rooms were very large and spacious despite being a row house. 

My dad planted beautiful rose bushes along the entire side of our house. He would take care of them meticulously and they would be gorgeous prize bloomers. We had such an abundance of roses all summer, that he would cut them and give bouquets to a friend who owned a dinner restaurant. 

If you needed a ride anywhere, an errand done, or a favor, you just needed to ask my dad. 

He was always pleasant and don't remember him ever raising his voice. 

He loved to cook and on his day off on Sunday, he would usually cook a big batch of "gravy" -homemade spaghetti sauce and meat balls. It cooked most of the day and Sunday evening it would be our meal with a big Italian bread and butter. By the time I was 12 (and my father had gone bankrupt) we had 2 borders renting in our home (college students who attended a near-by NJ State college). They went home somewhere in New Jersey for the weekend and returned on Sunday nights. They were always invited to Sunday night spaghetti dinner.

My father was a man of routine. He was very neat, organized, punctual. He loved projects. When he wasn't working on his beautiful garden, or cooking up a Sunday dinner, he could be found organizing and mounting the family photos. He like to read fiction and watch the cowboy shows on TV.

My mother (who was originally from New York) did not drive- so once a month on Sunday, we drove from Trenton, NJ to Brooklyn to see my mother's family. It was a long drive in those days ( no Veranzanno bridge, no cell phones to use, no GPS to guide us (and we got lost finding the NYC tunnel frequently). 

My parents lived through the 1918 Spanish Flu as children and then again the Great Depression as young adults. They liked having a lot of knick knacks and "stuff". One day as a older teen, I decided to clean up the shelves and mantles and make them more bare, clean, and neat looking. It looked great to me as I don't like clutter. 

When my dad got home, I asked him how he liked it. He replied, "Where is all our stuff? Are we back in the days of the Depression? " He wanted me to put everything back- it made him feel safe and comfortable. 

My dad has been gone for many years. But of course never forgotten and Father's Day is a good day to remember him and the wonderful man he was! 

Happy Father's Day Dad!!