A Few Midnight Memories of My Papa

It's 1 a.m. on a Thursday night (or technically Friday morning). We're coming up on 5 months since Dad died. It's so surreal to think about. But tonight I was working on a scene in one of my books and the scene sparked a memory. So I wanted to share and remember.

I don't remember how old I was. Probably 6 or 7. I'd been playing outside and somehow got a splinter on the heel of my foot. It hurt. So, of course I went to my parents. Mom and Dad got out the tweezers and sat me down in a kitchen chair. They tried to pull the splinter out, but it hurt, so I cried and screamed and refused to let them touch it any further. I was a stubborn child, so eventually they let me go to bed with the splinter still in.

After I'd gone to bed and was almost asleep, I remember my Dad quietly entering my room. He knelt by my bed and lightly slipped my injured foot out from beneath the covers and went to work with a flashlight to get the splinter out. I drifted off to sleep and don't think I was awake when he finally got it.

I actually wrote that memory into the scene I'm working on. Who knows if it will actually make it through editing, but at least I've got it memorialized here on the blog if it doesn't.

Then a few days ago I cleaned up my desk and took a picture. I like to share the evolution of my desk on social media. So I shared this picture on Instagram tonight.

On the far right you'll see a candy bowl with my Dad's name on it. I made that for him when he got his new job at Draper City. It was supposed to look kind of Doctor Who-ish and spacey. I used glow in the dark paint for the stars. But I told him that I was giving him a candy bowl so that everyone would want to come visit his office.

Then, you'll also see a Tardis and the 11th Doctor. So that Tardis belonged to my Dad too. When we went to Las Vegas a couple years ago as a family we went to TV City and watched a pilot episode. As part of our compensation for doing that, we were given a fifteen dollar gift certificate to their gift shop. That Tardis is what my Dad chose to buy with his gift certificate. He took it to work and kept it on his desk there.

So I gave him the 11th Doctor as a present to go with his Tardis. He never took it to work. I think it actually stayed in his closet. He was probably too embarrassed to have something like that up. Haha.

But after he died, that candy bowl, the Tardis, and the Doctor were the only things of his I really wanted. And now they live on my desk as a reminder and almost a tribute to him.

Anyway, those were just a few memories and thoughts I figured I could share tonight. Little stories like these mean a lot to me, because it's little moments that made me love my dad so much.

Enjoy the little moments with those you love this week!