No. 1 dad
Written by Amanda Pretulac, Nov 22, 2011, 0 Comments
Many of the father-daughter moments between my dad and I remind me of a National Lampoon movie—things almost always go awry.
When I was six, my dad and I decided to try to fly a kite. While standing out in a field in our neighborhood, I anxiously wanted the kite to go higher and my dad instructed me to unravel the string. Who knew there was an end to the string because before either of us knew it my Pocahontas kite started to take off down the road. The next half hour was spent following the kite in our car until it eventually got tangled in a fence.
A few years later we discovered that fishing was a popular pastime in our small town. My dad purchased fishing poles and tackle boxes, and we set out for Crystal River, Fla., heads held high. Once we got to the dock, the goal was to catch mullet. I remember being excited about the hot pink glitter bait and how it sparkled in the water.
I took my newfound fishing career very seriously. We stood on the dock for hours. Then we became desperate. My tactic was to get a scarier piece of bait, and my dad’s was to cast out to a school of fish farther from the dock. After putting bait on my hook, I turned around, game face on. But panic rushed over me when I realized my dad was no longer on the dock and nowhere to be found.
I shouted out to him until all of a sudden he emerged from the water. I was instructed to pick up the tackle gear and head back to the truck. Our fishing trip ended with a stop at Circle K on the way home to pick up a bag of ice for my dad’s knee. The fishing gear remained in the garage with the kite for many years after.
Then when I was 15—drivers permit in hand—my dad decided to make the ultimate sacrifice between my parents and teach me how to drive. My training vehicle was his Dodge Ram truck, which felt like driving a semi.
To keep my dad’s blood pressure down, we decided to drive down the 20 mph roads in our neighborhood. One day, I was so focused behind the wheel that I neglected to hear my dad shouting at me that there was a turtle in the road. It was too late. This story doesn’t end with anything collecting dust in our garage, but my parents did buy me a turtle key chain that glows in the dark in memoriam of the turtle lost that day.
As I embark on the next big chapter of my life, I remember my experiences with my dad. Even though these stories aren’t perfect, they’re perfect to me. My dad made the effort in every way to give me these fun life experiences and, for that, I had the best childhood. He may not be the world’s next up-and-coming fisherman, but he will always have the title of No. 1 Dad.
