By Jill Krueger Wagner
In the fall my thoughts often turn to my dad. His birthday is
coming up on September 26.
This morning the songs he sang came to mine. He and I would
sing together while I supplied the music by playing our Conn organ. He loved
old show tunes and we would sing and sing and sing them. We had a couple of
music books full of them but he had his favorites.
To encourage us he would often sing, “You’ve Gotta Have Heart”
from Damn Yankees.
Just listening to it again brought wonderful memories of
Dad. He had to have heart going into business like he did with a family to
support. He wasn’t a quitter even when the situation looked dire, he kept on
keeping on and taught us to do the same.
He was an optimistic person, looking on the bright side of
things. He was also a born encourager. One sweet memory I have is of us riding
in the car and him patting my leg and saying, “You’re a nice girl Jill. I like
you.” I felt so loved.
I also remember falling asleep in the car and him picking me
up to carry me to bed. Sweet memories.
He had a positive world view, too. He had read the entire
New Testament and determined to live like Jesus. He wasn’t a consistent church
attender but he tried to always do the right thing and when he failed, he
fessed up to the failure.
For instance, once he falsely accused me of something. I
have no memory of what it was that he thought I’d done. However, I have a very
clear memory of his coming to me when he found out the truth and asking me to
forgive him. That takes a strong man to admit his failure to his child.
Another one of his beloved tunes was Louis Armstrong
singing, “What a Wonderful World.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqhCQZaH4Vs
These positive songs lift my spirit and remind me of a time
one of the boys was down and suggested he listen to some music and he responded
that his music only made him feel worse. I was stunned. I thought that was in
contrast to my music that lifts me up, the type of music Dad enjoyed.
Dad loved all of us and he showed his girls in a special way.
We had “Daddy Dates” before it was a thing. He would take us downtown to see
musicals. We were so proud to be seen with him.
Perhaps the most precious memory was of him singing “Daddy’s
Little Girl.”
Daddy, this “little girl” is 76 and she misses you.
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