Double Party

Father’s Day kicked off with a joke for El Oso. Seemed appropriate.

“Hey, Dad. Why did the ladybug fall through the leaf?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Because it was a fat ladybug. Get it?”

“Oh, I get it…”

“Really?! Did it rhyme?”

Francis was excited at church. The day had come. After Shelly the Green Slug had been retired at the ripe age of seventeen, Dad had inaugurated Shelly #2, or “Goldilocks” as Carrie suggested. Yes, it was gold. And, no, Francis would not be driving it through flooded roads or railroad tracks. This was Dad’s vehicle, and Dad’s vehicle only.

And because it was Father’s Day as well as the new van day, a christening drive was planned for the afternoon.

But first, sandwiches, the game, naps, the boys out with their girls doing dad-things with the other dads.

We packed twelve into the new-smelling fifteen-passenger. An obvious upgrade, but still the same feel. Memories. Francis ogled over it long enough to patch up any old regrets about Shelly. One would presume.

“I’ve even already checked out the engine,” he told me proudly, with a very large grin.

So, Dad turned the van toward Marthasville. Anything with a “ville.” Just can’t take it seriously. But they had good pizza out there in Marthasville: Philly’s.

On the way, all potential “road sickies” took refuge up front. That lobbed me three benches back to stare out the window to summer skies, rolling hills, valleys, orange butterfly bush.

Philly’s was closed. I guess the pizza-maker didn’t feel like rolling dough and sprinkling cheese on Father’s Day. So Mom placed an emergency call to Cecil Whittaker’s on the winding road back.

In tradition, we sat around the living room with squares of bacon, sausage, or supreme (that one was for El Oso) and talked favorite Dad memories. From nightly Dave Dawson and Jo-Jo stories to hiking the Tetons. It probably could have gone on all night. But there were gifts to open: a National Geographic book about Jesus from us (figured that would be an enlightening read), a bag of Butterfinger bites and 3D holographic postcard of “Starry Starry Night” from Irish, and tickets to Bill Cosby from the other kids.

So Puck only went down about forty-five minutes late and El Oso got a free blizzard from Dairy Queen from the City of Wentzville for his birthday.