He died in 2001…thank goodness before 9/11 or he would have worried himself to death.  With Aunt Frances and mom possibly coming back home, I went over to mom’s basement today and started moving things around and tossing stuff.  My dad saved EVERYTHING!  I must give him credit.  He was an artist.  During my childhood, we saved the old aluminum toothpaste tubes and misc other household items…it took him many years but he created a 6 foot replica of the budweiser team – wagon and clydesdales.  It is awsome..Made almost completely from clay/wood/things he had saved.  He made the first horse – had a cast made and then when he had them all – just before firing, he went thru and broke all of their legs and necks and posed them they way they would be posed.  We always made a special effort to attend anything close to home where the budweiser team may be featured…even a trip to St Louis to check it out.  The drivers are made of clay and they are made to look like the drivers of the bud team back then (60’s and 70’s.)   I’ll take a pic of it and include it in my blog.  When that was finished, he set about to make western scenes from various western pictures he had kept.  So today, I spent the early part of the afternoon, cleaning up his area in the basement…touching and moving some of the things that hadn’t been touched or moved since he put them where he wanted them many years ago.  He was on my mind the whole time…I will have to say at one point, I did speak outloud and told him this mess was ridiculous but I was very comforted in touching the things he had touched.    If you have lost someone near and dear to you, I’m sure you can relate!

Miss you daddy!!!!