Life Lessons with Frank

When you have a diagnosis of Alzheimer's and then couple that with the brutal news of esophageal cancer you feel like a definite expiration has been set.  I can not really use the word sentimental, but it has definitely had me replaying some old tapes of my youth in my head searching for something positive to hold on to. 

I don't have the fond memories of being daddy's little girl. He had 4 girls, so it was hard for any of us to feel that. There are no learning to ride a bike memories or daddy protecting me from my first heart break of a boy. If anything it was probably the other way around. 

There were no Christmas' with dad dressed as Santa, even though he did dress up as Smoky the Bear in the Townsend parade once. No Sundays where I was told that church was where I was going whether I liked it or not. 


But I did come across things that I have learned from my dad, or because of my dad. Strange as some may be, these are the memories that will be stored in the hope chest of my heart. 


So these are what I will refer to as Life Lessons with Frank- 

• Rinse your dishes with cold water- kills the bubbles faster

• At about 10 years old I learned all girls need to practice their typing skills and work on their WPM. Apparently the official sentence to practice is  "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country". As I type this I realize my skills haven't improved much in 35 years. 

• I learned to write a basic DOS computer program. But I didn't stick with it because I thought computers were just going to be a fad and go away soon

• I learned to play "Born to Lose" on the organ because he loved that song

• I've learned that it is possible to change the password on your bank account 10 times in one day

• That receiving an email from a 79 year old man with 'LOL" in it will make your left arm go numb- side note....above mentioned email was on Fathers Day as I sat on the couch in his house and he was in his bedroom. Email, at the time, was his preferred method of communication. 

• You can buy table cloths that are infused with bug spray and night time driving glasses...in bulk

• Apparently you can decide to call yourself a Sr. even if you don't have any sons

• You can have 17 different email accounts and the Internet will still not shut you down

• When a doctor ask him to name 4 words that begin with F (I held my breath because at this point you just don't know what to expect), one of his top 4 is Fantabulous. I thought only 14 year old girls used that word

• You can have a picture of your dogs put on about anything

• You never seeing anyone using a Stylus because all of them, and I mean all 1,256,938 of them are in his bedroom

• Someone really can have too many batteries

• Peanut butter, Mayonnaise and cheese sandwiches are his fav

• I know how to eat shrimp and get every morsel from the shell

• He can still give you the zip code for any street address in Knoxville from memory

• If someone ask if you would like to see a picture of their Pride & Joy,  its going to be a picture of dish washing soap

• I know what it means if someone's obituary says they were a friend of Bill Wilson's for so many years

• Unfortunately I know what www.wm&*.com is all about. You don't want to know the correct website. Trust me- there are things you can't unsee

• I know that after seeing a 79 year old naked you don't sleep very well for awhile

• I know that it's possible to be on a first name basis with your UPS man and have his personal cellphone number for your convenience

• Amazon will never ever cut you off- even if you ask them to

• I know that a grown man, 4 teenage boys, a cowboy hat and a go-cart will fit in a Toyota Corrola hatchback car

• I know what a Wampus cat is now

• I know that when he says "Tam I sure do love you", I forget about all the bad stuff 

Joel Osteen always says that you have to choose what movies or shows of your past to replay in your head. If you finally make it to the end of that scary movie or Sci-fi that you thought would never end- leave it there. Don't let it cloud the movie screen of your mind today. 

Deuteronomy 5:16 NIV
"Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and thatit may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you"


I heard the comedian Jerry Clower tell a story and refer to the above Bible verse. He points out that the verse does not say that we are to only honor our parents if we feel they have earned it. They earned it when they gave us life.....period.

I am trying really hard to do that and condition myself to change the channel when those old sad reruns come back on. 

Especially since there is only so much time left before before the screen fads to black. 

Until next time- safe picking. Tammy