Father's are a very important thing in a girl’s life, and the basis of all of their relationships comes from who her father was/is. Did you know that the majority of girl’s, who get married, marry someone who is almost identical to their father at that age? Weird, huh? I never knew any man quite as unique as my dad. He was funny, compassionate, and even a good listener. No matter what time of the night it was, or even where you were, he was always willing to help, because that was the type of person he was. My family is notorious for their sense of humor. We tend to take the worst out of life and turn it into a funny or legitimate situation. My father was very known his sarcasm (which he used frequently) and his jokes. He was always making a joke out of life, even if you were in a terrible mood, there was not one time that I recall him not trying to make me laugh, and as usual he would succeed.
I grew up in the small town of Genoa, WI with a population of about 230 people. It is not very diverse, and everyone knows everyone and their business. Genoa’s filled with lots of scenery, wildlife, and even a nice view of the river. At times I would go up to what we called the Genoa Vista, and go look at how beautiful my home town actually was. Over time of living in such a small community, I was taught to embrace the beauty in life, so that is what I try to do most of the time. My father was very passionate about many things but his main passions were Music, Basketball, and his family. Basketball was what he completely 100% enjoyed on his free time. He was one of the starters in high school for his basketball team (actually the same high school I went to) and the passion and love for it never left him. He moved back from Madison when my mom got pregnant with me,and the school offered him a coaching job, which he was absolutely happy about! From time to time while growing up he would try and teach me pointers, and he actually got me very big into basketball for about 10 years of my life, that is until I felt so un motivated to do it (because I had been pushed to do it my whole life.. IMAGINE THAT). He coached basketball for 16 years, and everyone knew and loved him as a coach, because everyone knew exactly who he was. They all loved him for his giddy attitude and very funny sense of humor, but even though he was such a goofball sometimes, he knew when to be serious and when not to be. My dad was the insurance agent at a company called “Gillespie Insurance,” which happened to be founded by my grandpa Patrick back in the 1960’s and passed down ever since. My father was one of those people whom was always looking for a way to make you more successful than you already were. My family is very big into being the best you can be and he definitely took pride in that his entire life.
In every person’s life they know that people come and go in their lives daily and we know that you can’t have all the time in the world with someone. But in a sad but true sense, I never thought it could happen to me. I had always envisioned my father being there for everything; my graduation, when I got married, when my kids were born, etc; but life being the unfair thing it is, that’s surely not the case. Before I knew it I would have one of the most emotional, heartbreaking next few days for me, and I didn’t even know it was coming. April 4th, 2006 was like any ordinary day for me. It was an average day for me filled with seeing friends, getting homework, and coming home to a family that I didn’t get along so good with. My best friend at the time, Dana, had wanted me to come to her house, so I went home and decided to talk to my mom about it. “Mom, can I go to Dana’s house?” “No,” she replied. Honestly that did not stop me though, like every girl when the mother says no, she goes right to the dad. “Dad can I go to Dana’s?” He was unsure at first but decided that No would be a good answer too. Finally after hours of begging them to, they finally gave up and let me. I was so happy that I got to go see my best friend! I packed my stuff, got in the car and was there in about fifteen minutes. My mom dropped me off there and told me to have fun. I replied “Yes I will Mom.” Dana and I did our usual routine, played with her cat George (pretty much my cat too), watched that 70’s show, talked about our lives, etc. “What would you do if you ever lost a parent?” Dana asked. “I am not sure dude, but I would be so upset, I replied”
“Yeah me too I don’t know what I would do without my mom, she said.” The conversation continued and ended up resulting in even some jokes about my dad and his love for basketball. Dana and I always got a kick out of it. We ended up talked until about 12:00 am and decided that we should probably get some sleep since we had to get up at 5:30 am the next morning to get ready for school.
The following morning was April 5th, 2006; a day that would stay in my memories forever. I started out having a fantastic morning, Dana and I drank 2 cups of coffee before school and were pretty wired on caffeine. We almost missed our bus because our bus driver Jean Lamey liked to hot rod on the back roads and did not like to wait a couple minutes for us to get out of the door. This kid named Tori Collette was on the bus and he would often say random things to Dana and I which we thought were hilarious! We ended up yelling his name really loud for no reason, knowing he disliked it, and he ended up freaking out about it. She and I thought it was so funny. When we arrived in the Genoa trailer park to pick up all of the kids our bus driver ended up backing up, and hitting 6 mailboxes. Troubled by this act, he just drove away and continued the bus route. Dana and I could not contain ourselves about what just happened, let alone everyone on the bus. We arrived at school and had pretzels and cheese for breakfast, something that Dana and I were obsessed with at the time (Favorite breakfast). We sat at our table of girls, talked about what happened, laughed a lot, and before we knew it, it was time for class. I happened to have been in the 8th grade but was taking a high school level math class called “Core 1.” I arrived there and sat in my seat. We had work time in class so we ended up getting in groups and my friend Mc Kenzie was in there. “I didn’t know popcorn popped in a microwave,” she stated. Being the ridiculous person I am I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that time, and my entire group picked on her about it (jokingly) for the entire class period. Following math class was my Gym class with my entire grade. We had to start out running laps and my teacher Ms. Silvis would often name off things and we would have to run for them. As soon as that got done I got called to the office. My class being the young and immature 8th graders we were, asked me what I did wrong. Some even did the classic “OHHHHHHHHH burn.” I replied that I had no idea and my best friend Lucas told me good luck. I smiled at him and walked to the office. Was I in trouble? What did I do? That was all I kept thinking. When I got there I saw my uncle Mike and aunt Corina, and immediately the only thought that ran through my mind was that my Grandfather had passed away. “Maggie, do you have any other clothes to change into,” my aunt asked. Confused, I replied “Yes.” They told me to go change and to come back up to the office but did not give me any more information. I made my way to the locker room and changed and then told my class goodbye. When I got into my principal’s office I saw my cousin Ashley crying. Then I was sure it was my grandpa, but boy was I wrong! “Your dad was in an accident…and he’s not doing too well,’ she said with a worried look in her face. Thinking that he was just in the hospital I replied “Okay is he all right?” I had never seen such a guilty and not knowing what to say look on her face; “No, “she replied, “He’s gone Mags.” I had never felt such a rush of sadness, and madness at the same time. It didn’t feel real to me, in my mind so many things were going on. Not this I thought, but sadly it was true. I was so flabbergasted and inside I broke down instantly, but for my family I contained how I felt. They would not let me stay at school so we left and they decided to take home a different way than the usual 15 minute drive. I was very furious at them because I wanted to see what happened, I figured I could handle it, but they saw it differently.
I got home about 45 minutes later since they took a different way, and instantly hugged my mother who was torn to pieces. The hardest thing was having to tell my two siblings Alec (9) and Cassidy (6). Cassidy immediately understood, but Alec (has a learning disability) didn’t understand that he wasn’t coming back. I could not take the sadness and aloneness my house had now so Ashley and went to my grandpa’s house and talked about all of the old and fun times with my father, and even laughed a little bit. We talked all day and waited for my friends to get off school, and even sat by the bus stop for them to get off the bus. When they got to Genoa they had cards and were giving me hugs, and hanging out with them actually eased my pain a lot. Later on we found out that the wake was April 9th, 2006, which happened to be three days from my 14th birthday, I honestly didn’t think it could get any worse.
On April 9th, 2006 we had the wake at Vossteig Larson Funeral home in Viroqua, WI. It started at about 1:30 but ended up going until about 8:00 pm. I was very nervous and did not know what to expect not only for myself, but my family too. I had never felt so empty inside and it didn’t feel real to me still, but this was going to prove to me that it was. My father was a very well known and liked man, and people lined up down the block to be there for my family and say their own goodbyes. It started getting to the point that I had said so many thank you’s for being here that I forgot who had came. Not to mention it was 7 hours long, instead of 4! I didn’t like feeling sad because I knew deep down that it was not what my father had wanted. I went up to him in his casket and examined his makeup. I thought that they had put way too much makeup on him and in the process of this I touched his nose not thinking about it. It smeared of course and Ashley and I could not help but giggle about the situation. The wake went on for a long time and I knew that even though I was laughing I still had to be strong for my family.
April 10th, 2006 was the day of the funeral. My family had asked me to think of something that related to my father and read it during mass, so I agreed. I had never been so sad in my entire life, and being myself, tried to keep the composure I had left for my family. The mass was not very long and I read a poem in front of everyone, and ended up starting to cry. After this followed the burial, which I could not help but bawl my eyes out at. It was a very sunny yet cold day, the wind was blowing, and it was definitely sweatshirt weather. I am Irish so it is traditional at a funeral to have a bagpipe playing, so we had that playing while we walked up to my father’s grave site. When we got up there the priest said a few things, and my uncles all said very nice things about my dad and their goodbyes. My dad being notorious for drinking, they did a shot in honor of him. They closed the burial session with us being able to say goodbye to him and this followed a lunch. At the lunch everyone shared stories and talked about all of the good times.
In conclusion, you should never take your loved ones for granted. You never know when you might not have them in your life, and embrace the time you do have with them. Do what makes you happy and them also. Even though I don’t have my dad in my life anymore, I couldn’t possibly forget him or how much he influenced the person I am today. A void like that could never get filled no matter what and even as the years pass he will still be my pop. He left me with some very good advice and I still use it today. “Take everybody’s advice and then do as you please.” This means that you should take peoples opinions and use them towards your own. I will never forget what he meant by that.
No comments:
Post a Comment