Nine Lessons I Learned from My Father by Murray Howe

Author:Murray Howe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: 2017-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

7

Be Tough

“There’s no such thing as cold weather. Only cold clothing.”

It’s almost 7:00 a.m. Colleen woke up a while ago. “Did you stay up all night?” she asked with a yawn.

“I think I did,” I joked. “How’d you sleep?”

“Not bad, but too short,” she said with another yawn.

I suggested she go back to sleep and let me take care of the breakfast and coffee.

“No, thanks. I’ve got way too much to do,” she said, already heading for the bedroom door. Colleen is the most responsible human being I’ve ever met. She was going to make sure everything got taken care of today, including the obituary, the handout for the private visitation, the handout for the public viewing, the funeral details, the press release, and food for the twenty-some family members who were staying with us or our neighbours. I’d help, but Colleen would make sure it was done right. It’s what engineers do. I was grateful for her efforts.

Even though my brain is craving a few hours of precious REM, I refuse to yield. There’s so much I want to say in Dad’s eulogy, so many stories to share. His impact was so immense, it seems impossible to pack it all into a single portrait. Superlatives aren’t enough to describe him. It’s the countless moments that barely register in memory that define him. Not big goals, but a quiet smile or even something he might have done when no one was watching.

A single moment can last a lifetime. William Clay Ford Jr., the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company and great-grandson of Henry Ford, recently was quoted as saying that one of his happiest childhood memories was attending the Howe–Gadsby Hockey School. Ford, then eight, wanted to show Dad—his hockey idol—his work ethic and toughness. He put his head down to skate hard. “The next thing I know, I was slammed,” he recalled. “I’ve never been hit so hard in my life. I’m lying in this heap, and it’s Gordie looking down at me. He says, ‘Son, always skate with your head up.’ I was so honored to have been checked by Gordie Howe. That was the coolest thing that ever happened to me.”

Yes, Dad knew how to make a lasting impression. Of course, as his own son, it took me some time to realize how special he was. I vividly remember lying on our living room floor when I was about five. Whenever Dad had an away game, our family would gather around the TV to watch him play. I would set up my Hot Wheels while Cathy painted or read a magazine, Mom crocheted, and my brothers wrestled or played “little hockey” during intermissions. This was pretty much our routine for those away games. After a few years of this, I decided to buck convention.

“Mom, why do we always have to watch Dad on TV?” I asked. “Batman is on now, and right after that the Green Hornet.”

“Don’t you want to watch your father?” Mom said in surprise.

I thought about that for a moment.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.