My Dad

One of the nice things that happens as you get older is that you grow to appreciate things that as a child you didn't fully appreciate. The house that I grew up in seemed to have very thin walls. That seemed especially true of my room that bordered the living room where we had our piano and the room where my dad would also play his accordion. He probably didn't play it late into the night, but it seemed like it to me at the time. I remember sometimes putting a pillow over my head just to try to block out the sound. (Sorry, dad, I was like 11 or 12) Just a note: pillows do NOT block out accordion OR piano for that matter.

Well, now that I am older and my dad's love of music has been passed on to his grandkids, I see his accordion playing on a completely different level. It is endearing. It is so "him". It is something that I will always remember about him. He has even started taking accordion lessons, so now he has to practice along with just playing. Another interesting thing about when my dad plays either the piano or accordion is that he does this monotone humming that is pretty constant. I haven't figured out if it keeps time with the music or if it's just random, but it always seems to be the same note no matter what the song is. I think he has learned that circular breathing that trumpet players can do because I never hear him breath when he hums. So, when my parents come over for a visit, my mom buzzes around the house, my dad will run the kids to and from swimming or wherever else they need to go, but he also likes to play his accordion.

Isn't he cute?

I know he's humming right here.

My parents came over for dinner tonight and I noticed he had a red shirt on so I asked him, "Is that the same red shirt you had on when you were here earlier this week?" "What?" "No, I don't think so, do you think I wear the same shirt all of the time??" "Well, I see you in a red one a lot." "Well, I have 3 of them and I also have 3 black ones." They're his faves, so chances are if you run into him, he will probably be wearing either a red shirt or a black one. Looking back at these photos, I think I know why...they match his accordion. :-)

Thanks for caring so much about us, Dad.