Birthday Blues ...

 

My Dad's birthday is tomorrow ... and I thought I'd share a story ...

When I was a wee ThirtyWhat, Dad was in the Marines ... based out of Quantico, Virginia flying on Marine Corps One with the president.  And so, depending on the flight schedule, some days he would have to wear his dress blues ... other days, it was just utilities.

 

By all accounts, I was a crabby baby.  That's how I got my nickname, in fact ... they claim I was either cuddly as a baby bear ... or grouchy as a mama bear.  It stuck ... and all these years later, my family still calls me Bear.

And so ... the story goes ... one morning I was particularly cranky.  I was a daddy's girl ... and usually all he would have to do was pick me up and sing "White Christmas" ... and I would normally calm right down.  Mom gave me a bottle ... rocked me ... changed me ... but nothing helped.  

It was an important day for Dad ... he was in his dress blues and in a hurry to get to tarmac and starting doing safety checks before they left.   But Mom asked ... could he hold me for just a moment ... just to get me to quiet down ... and he said sure.

He held me against him ... rocked gently ... and began singing in that deep voice of his ... "I'm dreaming of a whiiiiite Christmas ..." ... and I did quiet down ... right before I threw up formula all down the back of his spotless uniform.

You might think he would've been angry ... what with having stinky baby formula from shoulder to hip ... but he just handed me to Mom and went to change.   He told me years later that I was the only baby to keep a president waiting. 

I'm sure it wasn't true ... at least the presidential delay part ... but he always told the story with a lot of happiness and love. 

So ... happy birthday, Dad.  Love you ... sorry I threw up on your dress blues.

 

If we get to see tomorrow
I hope it's worth all the wait
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday

 

Boyz II Men - It's So Hard To Say Goodbye