TIMES I STILL TREASURE – Part 2 of 2
I loved to go to the barbershop with my dad. On the way, he would tell me funny stories. His sense of humor delighted me. One of our favorite stories was an amusing tale of how he met my mother.
My father told me that the day he met my mother they had all been to a dance and it had been raining very hard. My mother and one of her girlfriends left, and my father walked behind them with his chums. Suddenly my mother tripped, getting her feet soaked and her beautiful yellow dress ripped at the hemline.
My father quickly ran to her and offered her a safety pin, which he happened to have in his pocket. My mother took the safety pin and used it to keep the hem attached to her dress. My father then said to her with a chuckle, “Why don’t you pin your dress up a little higher.”
My mother blushed and said to him, “You rogue.” But as they smiled at each other, the romance had already begun.
I couldn’t help but notice how many women still smiled as they looked at my handsome father with his prematurely silver hair, bright blue eyes, and good sense of style. Men also loved him. He was a popular person. When we entered the barber shop, he was greeted by men calling out, “Hi Dave, great to see you! Where have you been? I see you have your darling daughter with you.”
I liked seeing the men get haircuts and shaves. I also liked the camaraderie of the group and their attention to me. I felt accepted.
One time I needed to use the bathroom. I thought I had opened the correct door, but I came into a little room, sort of secret-like. On the walls were pictures of beautiful young women in various stages of nudity. No one I ever knew looked like that. I hurriedly got out. I decided not to tell my mother, because if I did, she might not allow us to go back. I thought, what she doesn’t know won’t hurt me.
During my early years, my family enjoyed the beautiful
As I grew older, I sometimes jokingly referred to my father as “Saint David.” He was strict about me being a proper young lady. If I got home from a date and stayed in the car, after a while I could depend on my father coming down the front steps in his pajamas, robe, and slippers. He would say cheerfully, “Thank you, young man, for bringing my daughter home safely. Now she needs her beauty sleep. Goodnight.”
That quickly ended my evening!
Though I was annoyed, I believe the fellows respected my father and me more because he was that way. Although, I cannot relive my lovely years of youth and time of wonder, I still have my enchanted memories to reflect upon, and thank God, I have my two dear brothers, Arnold and Howard, to share some of the past with me. Although, we live at a distance from each other, we are closer now than when we were young.
I hope we will all continue to be so blessed.
— © Dr. Barbara Becker
In private practice
since 1981, Dr. Barbara Becker
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