Dad asked me to help him pick up one of his stereo components from the repair shop. We got home and I started walking up the front walk with this heavy thing and tripped. Well, it hit the sidewalk and broke. Dad very calmly asked if I was alright and said, "Come on, let's go back" on the drive back to the shop I was apologizing and upset. Dad said, it's just a machine, don't worry, things happen, as long as you're ok. It was fixed again and Dad kidded me about being careful going up the front walk, exaggerating, watch out for that crack, look out for that stick, we had a good laugh about it.

What I'm remembering today is Dad's gentle side, especially when dealing with me. We were at the football field one time and Dad had bought me a hot chocolate from the food truck. I tripped on my way back to where we were going to play and spilled it, I started to cry. Dad told me not to be upset and took me back to get another one, the guy at the food truck gave us another for free. I apologized to Dad for crying and embarrassing him. He told me he was not embarrassed, he just thought there were more important things to cry about.

​Kelly's Kastle