Madonna Parker
Memories of My Daddy from Your Little Girl
I only lived with my Daddy about 13 years out of my entire life, but I have many good, lasting memories. Here are a few that I would like to share:
*I was born on June 20, 1956 on the birthday of my Daddy’s father. How cool is that? My Daddy was the one who named me “Madonna” which throughout my life I’ve gotten lots of interesting comments and my reply has always been….”It was my name first!”
*In the first year of my life, my Daddy got a Shop Smith that he would use for over 50 years to make many beautiful things out of wood, including a playhouse for me when I was a little girl and then a playhouse for my three girls. I can remember gathering the piles of sawdust and using it as “food” on my tea set plates!
*My Daddy met a Pensacola family when he served in the Navy from 1943-1946. One member I knew for over 50 years. Whenever I would see her, her first words were not “Hi” or “How are you?” They were always, “You look just like your Daddy!”
*My Daddy took me to buy my first bra at Lerner’s in the mall. In the mid to late 60’s, things were quite different. You didn’t see ads or commercials about bras, panties, or feminine products. For my Daddy to help me with my first bra purchase was rather unusual!
*My Daddy and I use to go see the Atlanta Braves game, and we’d watch Hank Aaron as he worked to go past Mickey Mantle’s home run total. Aaron achieved that goal in July of 1969 with his 537th home run!
*My Daddy and I went to see lots of movies together. We saw the Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, and many of the Clint Eastwood movies (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dollars to name a few). I remember one theater in Atlanta that had lights in the ceiling that looked like stars in the sky. It was breathtaking!
*My Daddy and I went fishing. Once, we went to a large pond that was on the property of a friend of mine. We fished for hours with not even one bite. When we decided to leave, Daddy dumped the rest of the worms we were using as bait into the water. Every brim in that pond came to eat! I’d put the hook in the water and bring up a fish! Yes, I think we cheated!!
*My Daddy, brother, and I went on several trips in a homemade camper that my Daddy built using his Shop Smith. One time, we were going to have a steak with baked potato for supper which was a big deal back then. He fired up the grill, only to have a “monsoon” come our way. He covered the steak with foil, ran back and forth from the camper to keep the fire going, and we had our steak that night! Nothing else, but we did have steak! On another trip, we took a very long walk along the beach at Jekyll Island. Daddy looked for pieces of driftwood in the hopes that he could make something out of it. All of the sudden, the horseflies came out of nowhere. They were swarming and biting us. Daddy had my brother and I walk in the water. He swatted at the horseflies with his shirt while we kicked up water on ourselves to keep them from biting us. My Daddy was my hero!
*My friends all loved my Daddy and felt very comfortable around him. They even let him “spin the bottle” at my 8th grade party. Once the bottle stops, the guy and girl the bottle is pointing to must share a kiss!
*Probably for the last 30 years or so, I’d put a saying in my Daddy’s yearly Father’s Day card. This saying was on a plaque that I gave him back in the 60’s. It is fitting that I end my memories of my Daddy with those words:
A knight in shining armour,
A character builder, too;
Understanding, kind, and loving,
the greatest Dad,
that’s you!
I will greatly miss writing these words. I love you, Daddy. I will always be, Your Little Girl!