My father in law....Lee
Five years ago, in the early, early morning...the phone rang. It was my mother in law, Judy. She had to tell me my father in law, Lee had slipped away. His heart could not keep up with his personality...and gave out. We had gotten home the week before, from spending two weeks down there with them. Dad (Lee) was sick and the doctors were concerned, so Judy had to call me and I had to call Lee, who's boat was pulled into Kodiak at the time. His boat sent him home on a plane to San Jose, and I loaded up the Suburban with the boys and drove all night to get there. When we left there Dad appeared to be on the mend, a pacemaker was put in to keep up with him...and on Father's Day (the last time we spoke to him) he sounded awesome...joking that he was gonna bribe a nurse to sneak him in a diet Coke and some M&M's.
The night he passed away, my Lee had duty. Which meant he was on the boat over night. I called the quarterdeck (where the phone is located on the boat) and they woke up Lee for me so I could tell him what had happened. Lee had his motorcycle there, it was also one in the morning, so I paced the floor....impatiently waiting for his safe arrival home. I looked out the windows of our home in Port Orchard, the sky was clear.....and from every window I swear I saw a big, bright full moon. Since then, every full moon is a whisper in my ear, Lee's Dad letting me know it is ok. My Lee made it home fine, we hugged and tried to sleep. Sleep did not come easily of course....as we had to tell Mason and Elliott that their Grandpa had passed. We knew it would be very hard on Mason. It was also the last day of school that day....we sent the boys to school...Mason was getting a wood working award that would have made his grandfather so proud and he would not have wanted Elliott to miss that end of the year party. We left to be with Judy as soon as school was out. The following days are blurry, because they were full of tears, laughter and memories that were shared by the many people who loved Lee as much as we did.
I find it interesting, that my Lee has been working diligently on the Corvette.....her black coat of paint has been waxed and buffed so that she feels like satin. Also, without thought, I noticed that goulash is on the calender for tonight's dinner. Goulash....a Temple family recipe....and a favorite, was the first recipe Lee taught me. Some of my best recipes and tricks in the kitchen came from him. He also taught me to love "guy" movies....old westerns, James Bond and military movies. He would be so proud of Mason, and thrilled that Elliott was still just like he was. I am grateful for the four years we had in Petaluma...we were only two hours away from Dad and Judy. A lot of those weekends were spent on the Delta....I am still amazed how we managed to sleep 6 people on Dad's boat. It was worth it...in the morning you got "crazy potatoes" as a reward. That is the only recipe I have not been able to duplicate.
Guess what...the moon is supposed to be pretty full tonight...hope fully the whisper in my ear will be the ingredient I am missing to make the perfect "crazy potatoes".
We love you Dad (Lee), there has not been a day that you have not been missed. I feel you with me in the Vette.....especially when George Thorogood's "Bad To The Bone" starts to play.
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