November 5^th used to make me think of this old rhyme inspired by Guy Fawkes Day (the V for Vendetta mask is based on Guy Fawkes), which was the whole failed attempt to blow up Parliament and assassinate the king thing: “Remember, remember, the 5^th of November.”

But now it will always remind me of my dad.

This is the 1^st anniversary of his passing on November 5^th last year and I could keep it political, like the above Guy Fawkes reference, and say he blasted out of here on Election Day 2024 in his own version of Guy Fawkes before seeing how atrocious and sad things could get, but I’d instead rather share three of my favorite memories of him here today to remember him on this day.

In some ways, my dad gets a lot of credit for how I learned to read. I always think of it as rare now because Dad was not a big reader, though he was always mechanically gifted and could make things with his hands that he never ever even made blueprints for. He just apparently saw it in his brain and put it together on the fly. But he must have known I really wanted to read from me staring at comic books all day pre-k or kindergarten, but not knowing how to read the words. So, he started to read with me through an old read-along-to-the-audio Star Wars book and underlined words I’d have a hard time with. We spent quite a lot of time on that battered old leather armchair of his doing this. As some time went by, not only did I know the story by heart, but all the underlined words too, and the underlines started disappearing once I knew what they meant. I like to say now I learned to read from Dick and Jane and C-3PO.

A second favorite memory:

Sometimes as a kid, when I needed a bath or got dirty from playing outside, he’d do the classic Dad thing of throwing me up onto his shoulders and hauling me into the bathroom. He’d face the mirror and say something like, “Hey, I wish I knew where Bret went to. Where’d he go?” He’d take a swipe or two at my face with a small damp towel. “Oh, wait! I think that’s his nose! Where’d the rest of him go?” I’d laugh like crazy. I don’t always realize it but find myself doing a similar thing with my girls too. And they laugh just the same.

Third favorite memory:

When I was helping him at the start of his landscaping company after he retired from farming, he once said to me, “I believe you’re going to get to wherever you want to go… even if it takes you a long time to get there.” I think this was one of the nicest things he’d ever said to me. And you know, I’m not fast at most things, and I may not entirely be there yet… but I do believe him.

Bonus memory:

My dad and I were often very different people with very different tastes in life. But one thing we could agree on always was, of all things… Creedence Clearwater Revival.

When I moved to Florida, he rode with me, driving down from North Dakota in my car, pulling his little trailer. At the time, I hated country music and my Dad hated rock music, so we never could agree on a damn thing on the radio or otherwise. But then he realized I had a “20 Greatest Hits” Creedence Clearwater Revival CD in my car, and put that in. It played the entire 2 or 3-day drive down and every time I tried to change it, he’d say, “Just play it again. Play it one more time.” Once more became 20 more “once mores.”

Never underestimate the power of CCR. Thinking about him today, so my workday playlist may include a little “Lodi” and “Who Will Stop the Rain?” And maybe, just maybe, some of his beloved Patsy Cline.