Shifting Gears   Baby Boomer…Member Life 2.0…Wife, Mother, Grammie…Bicyclist…GoldWinger…Mensan…Girl Scout…Reader…Knitter…Rotarian

People who knew my dad always called him by one name – Keck.  It was a nickname for his last name and that’s what his grandkids called him too.  To me, he was – and always will be, “Daddy.”

Growing up in a small town in the 50s I have so many wonderful childhood memories and naturally a lot of them revolve around my dad.  Until I was 9 we lived on a college campus where he was the vice president and business manager and I remember going to his office where I was always treated like royalty.  The college girls spoiled me rotten and I now know that for many of them, it was an attempt to gain brownie points with my dad! 

As I grew older, we often had differing opinions but from him I learned some of life’s most valuable lessons:

• Like and Love are two different things!  I gave him numerous occasions to say “I may not like what you did, Annie, but I’ll always love you.”  Took me a long time to understand that message but eventually it got through.
• Take time to be spontaneous.  Daddy didn’t to that too often because he was definitely Type A but I vividly remember a winter afternoon when I was about 7 and was sledding on a small hill at William Woods College.  He came strolling across the campus in his suit and winter coat, hat on his head – going home for dinner.  Then he saw me and the next thing I knew, he’d borrowed my sled and was going down the hill where he fell off at the bottom, laughed and then brought the sled up the hill for me.  One of my favorite memories!
• Shower the people you love with love.  He was openly affectionate around my sister, Susie, and me and especially with my mom.  My last great memory of my dad was a few days before he died.  He was in the ICU at Callaway Hospital but since he was the only patient in the unit, and the nurses loved him, they allowed my mom, my daughters, my nephew and me to all come in to visit.  My mom sat on his bed next to him and all of a sudden he pulled her close, said “Damn, I love you, Julie” and then put his tongue in her ear!  The younger generation, me included, almost lost it then and there.  Little did we know how short was his time left on earth.
• Follow the Rotary 4-Way test.  My friends who are Rotarians will understand this one and if you want to read it, go to www.rotary.org to see it.  He joined Rotary before I was born and remained a faithful member until his last breath.  He embodied the ideals of the organization and lived his life around them.
• Be kind to everyone.  As a child we lived in college-owned housing and maintenance work was performed by college employees, most of who were Negroes (PC term in the 50s).  If they were there at lunch, they were invited to eat with us and join in our conversation.   He taught me that prejudice against anyone no matter what their race or creed was NOT acceptable.  Stupidity was another matter though unless someone had an actual mental handicap.
• The three most important things in life are not things – they are Faith, Family and Friends and in that order.  He was outstanding at putting God and others before himself – I’m still striving to be so unselfish.
• To those whom much is given, much is expected.  Those words guided his generosity with his time, talents and money.  He and my mom both taught me the importance of volunteering in my community and while they were never wealthy, he was generous in death to organizations that could do good with what money he had.  For years he shared his admiration for the Salvation Army not only for their spiritual direction but also because they ran a very efficient organization and used very little of their funds for overhead.  I never pass a Salvation Army bell-ringer during the holidays without putting in money in honor of my dad.
• Keep a sense of humor.  Even though he’s been gone from this world for 13 years, I can still recall the sound of his laughter in my mind.  He had a wicked, dry sense of humor but never wanted to make a joke at the expense of another person.
• Never deny your children the luxury of hard times.  It hurt him to see me or my sister, Susie, struggle or experience difficult times but he knew they were necessary for our survival.  I used to roll my eyes at this quote until I had kids of my own and finally “got it” – Daddy was right as usual.

So here’s to my dad who will live forever in my fondest memories.  I miss him so much but we still have conversations occasionally where we talk about the state of the economy, politics and life in general.  I know he’d be so proud of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren – they embody the best he had to offer.

And he’d love the fact that I have his license plate that proudly says “Keck”.