Little "Big" Man

-Thoughts and Memories of my Father.

When I was young, I think a always thought my father would be here forever. He passed away on the 9^th of December 2007. I have many great memories and thoughts about his time on this earth, and I would like to share some of them now. This is therapy for me as I go through the grieving process. I’ve talked to many people who have lost there fathers, and there seems to be one thing in common. There is a non replaceable whole left in their lives with the passing of their father.

My father was very active in the community, church, and family. At the showings, many people whom I have never known, share kind words of how this man, influenced their lives in such special ways, that I will never know. He was a rock, a steady man, with devotion to his family, friends, and community. He was a father, grandfather, and husband. A pure model in everything he touched and communicated to his fellow man.

I have always looked up to him for strength, information, and advice. It seems he was this to many other people also. I remember the cool times on the golf course, and the times around the dinner table with him and mom.

I remember the times where I thought he was the most stupid, and backwoods person I ever knew. This changed as I grew older, and he got smarter and smarter. With humble knowledge, I feel I’m half the man he is, and I now know, I will never have the impact he had in this life. I can try, but it’s a tough act to follow.

Things I remember:

Tick tacks- Always a pack in his pocket

Pens-Always in his shirt pocket

Tractors- Loved to play farmer.

Golf- Truly the best times with him alone and with friends.

Laughter- He really got a kick out of the Grand Kids, and laughed with his mouth open and his tongue sticking out!

Pride in his Grand Children- God only knows how much he loved his Girls, and Andrew.

Love of my Mother

Uncle Dave mentioned that medical science gave my father his extended life. I could have been cut short by heart trouble in his early 50’s. He had bypass surgery 2 times, once at 52, and the second time at about 65. I now look at this time as a celebration and marvel of medical science, and I’m so thankful we had him for an additional 25 years. He was taken quick, and many say that was the best way to go. I have mixed feelings about this with a very selfish motive to say, “I was I would have had one more conversation with him.” Just one more time to say “I love you” and “farewell”, would be a great thing right now.

This is my tribute to my Father, “Good Bye Dad”, “I Love you.” You truly were a Man larger than life, and I will truly miss my best friend. So even if you were small in stature, you truly were a “Big Man”.

Is it Fridays or Saturday?

Vic:

I just got the tickets from Wayne! $207.00 Total ($103.50 per couple)December 1^st and 8:00 pm is when the concert starts and stuff, information. I text messaged Ash to see if she is working that night at Fridays. I told her to work…It would be cool if we could have Ash serve us and then go to the concert! What do you think? Tommy

Vic's Response:


yes, that would be cool. but how would she know her schedule THAT far in advance???
she is a week to week person...........also, that concert is on SATURDAY not Friday, heelllooo??

I shake my head, Vic, yes I know the concert is on Saturday, but Ashleigh works at Friday's.

Enough said

Burnt Offerings "Vic and Food"

So many food stories, and so little time. Did I ever tell you why I married Vic. She looks great, and she is a great cook! There are many foods that I eat now, that I would never touch, if it weren't for Vic. Her taste for good food was passed down from her mom, Val. Vic has many unique combinations, that she will experiment with and they usually turn out great.

This story could start with the time we were on vacation, and she burn a frozen cherry pie, because she put the oven on broil instead of bake. Or the many times she has tried to bake cookies, and forgot about them and they were burned crisp...
This story is about the kitchen and her organization of the baking supplies. She has always been an organizer. All of the baking stuff is in the sealed Tupperware type containers. Well, I have always wanted to get her a label maker so you can tell what the white stuff is anyways? Daine and Becky were coming over for dinner, so she decided to make a chicken dish with red Italian sauce. When Becky and Daine were over, Vic asked Becky for a sneak taste of the chicken dish. There was something just not right.

The dish was different, and no one could put a label on what it tasted like. What we found out is that the Tupperware container with white powder was not flower like Vic thought it was... It was Powered Sugar!

The chicken tasted OK, and we all had a good laugh. I'm on the way to the store to get a labeler. If it doesn't turn out right, I might get labeled myself, but Vic will always be an adventure, when you Cook with unknown ingredient's.

Football and Vic "Worlds Apart"

A guy took his blond girlfriend to her first football game. They had great seats right behind their team's bench. After the game, he asked her how she liked the experience. 'Oh, I really liked it,' she replied, 'especially the tight pants and all the big muscles, but I just couldn't understand why they were killing each other over 25 cents.' Dumbfounded, her date asked, 'What do you mean?' 'Well, they flipped a coin, one team got it and then for the rest of the game, all they kept screaming was: 'Get the quarterback! Get the quarterback!' I'm like...Helloooooo? It's only 25 cents!!!!

Daine my friend sent this to me. I've had many experiences with Vic at football games. I remember going to a MSU (link) football game with Vic. She found some birds flying around the stadium and watched them the whole first half. When the band came out she was riveted to the field! She is a band mom, and cares less about the game. When I talk about Vic and football, I say this " Vic and football are on opposite ends of the universe" and now they meet.

I don't think she will ever understand football. I like to watch the game at high school levels, because of the unpredictable nature of the game, and the ebb and flow of momentum. Vic has momentum for band, and thats what makes our visits to any game so interesting. Each to his own, I'm musically declined, and Vic is band inclined. Together we ....?? Just right.

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

One thing I've learned about blond people and their hair. They seem to shed a lot more than other people. Here is a list of places that I have found Vic's hair, and you can wonder, how did it get there?

reading glasses (mine)
shoe laces
tooth brush
Food
clothes
sinks
big time in drains (clogs)
money
books
floor
Car seat
Car trunk


I get started on women in general and their shaving habits, and it always gets back to her legs. I always joked about this guy in the library at Ferris State University. He had so much hair, that he had a fur coat on his ears! He could literally comb his hair on his ears. Ask Randy White about this, he will confirm this, even though he admits to visiting the library only to see if Gnine was studying so he could hang out with her.

Back to Vic. I told her once, she didn't have a little stubble on her legs, it was a forest. She starts to laugh, and when you really get to her she starts crying. I do this once and a while, and it is so much fun getting Vic worked into a lather about her hair.

The other think about hair is yes I still have mine. The rule of thumb with males is look on your mom's side to see what happened. All of my uncles on my mom's side are bowling balls. Bald as bald can be. Thanks dad for at least one good trait to come from the Little's side. Just ask my mom about all the bad habits I picked up from the Little's side.

Well my wife has wanted me to always grow a beard or have a hairy lip. I tried this once in college, and my coordinator called me Abe Lincoln, so I cut it off, and never grew it again. I always tease her when on ski or winter vacations, I don't shave and cut it off the first day back to work.

When Vic says "your hair is finally growing into a length", I go get a haircut. When I get back, she stands at attention and give me the old military salute! I always say, the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is 3 days. It always grows back.

Vic and hair. She has it, and she looses it! I get it... Do you?

Spring Hill 2007 & Vic's Fruity Ways

Vic and I have been going to Spring Hill for many years. (10?) We actually went here before we were married on a singles retreat from her church.

Things that I remember about Spring Hill:

• Pine needles on my car
• Sunday Night Live
• Duck Tape Man
  
• a light dusting of dirt on my car after the weekend.
• The smell of campfires.
• The yells of little kids who are excited about an activity.
• The cool nights, and the cold floors inside the cabin.
  
• Moms and Dads rushing to get as much as possible before the weekend ends.
• Campfire stories about the fun things that are going on in people's lives.

We now even have a Vic story night (around the campfire) where I get to update everyone on new stuff that has been going on.

The trip to Spring Hill started out well. Vic picked me up a work and we were on our way. I was tipped off about road construction on US131, so we tracked a different route. Vic has always loved to eat in the car. Her favorite food is fruit. This time she was driving, and I was the navigator. When I tell this story, I have to be very specific about whom was were.

She decide to discard the fruit out the window, so the little animals and birdies can have something to snack on. She fully rolled down the window and chucked the core out.

She totally missed and the core ended up in the back seat. Keep in mind that she had the window all the way down, and she was not throwing the core across the car, it was right next to her seat!

This reminded me of "Planes, Trains, Automobiles" move were John Candy does the same thing with a cigarette, and starts the car on fire! Thank goodness she doesn't smoke or we would go through many car interiors.

I said a stupid comment, and we both ended up laughing about it all weekend.

Great time was had by all at Spring Hill, and we seem to continue this tradition, even though I fight it with excuses of allergies, and stuff. Daine and I played Battlefield, so I was cool.

Going Going Gone

My poor old Mercedes! I bit the bullet and put it on E bay. I just was having a hard time on letting go. Vic was so excited to see it go! She is in the process of letting everyone we know, that its on e bay (CC: the world). She enjoys watching the bids go up, and the amount of money coming in. I don't share her excitement. Mater of fact, according to her, I don't even have "excitement" in my vocabulary.

When you sell on e bay, people want to know about the more about the car so they email questions.

This is a actual email from one of the potential buyers.

Questions: Springdud(Me): Does FUN wife come with car? 222cjway

Answer:

Dear 222cjway:

Mater of fact, I've been thinking about trading in the old wife for a newer model. Make an offer... Needs some body work, engine runs fine, (runs on coffee), oil change every 50,000-100,000 words spoken (almost daily), right now a cash flow nightmare, (spends all my money). Will trade two daughters for one hard working son also.

Springdud

222cjway are good friends, and it was a good laugh! I'm not sure if they thought I was serious though? I love you honey, and the selling price for Vic is like the credit card commercial.... (priceless)

View of the Day

Ah!!! Petoskey, Michigan, what a place. As they say about up north, "View of the Bay for half the Pay!" I think this applies to Traverse City also. This doesn't apply to the cost of housing though!

This conversation was between my Mom the trickster, and Vic. The were downtown for some shopping on our mini vacation last week. My mother was pointing out the different sites, and mentioned that was Harbor Springs across the bay, and to the south was Bay Harbor, and farther south was Charlevoix.

"And if you look real close you can see Chicago!" Vic starts to look and then my mom starts laughing. Vic is so funny. She thought about that for a little bit are realized she had been tricked. I've always joked that Vic is geographically challenged. Its a fact. Chicago is only 362 miles by car. On a good day, in Grand Haven you can only see about 3-5 nautical miles.

We had a great vacation, and many fun things to do. Shelby made it through band camp. Back to work, and busy, busy, busy.

No Child Left Behind

Daine and Becky are very good friends of ours. They have two young, cute, funny kids named Sloan and Kaylyn. Becky has been going to school for a few years trying to get into nursing school at Grand Valley. (GVSU) (updated, she will start in the fall!!)

This event happened last year during golf season. Becky was at school, and Daine had golf league on a Tuesday night. Vic had agreed days before that she would pick up the girls from the baby sitter, and Daine would pick them up after golf.

Thank goodness for rain. I say this, because the golf league got rained out. Daine was done after one or two holes, and he called Vic to see if she had picked up the girls. Daine described the phone conversation this way.

Daine: "Vic, I got rained out, and I'm coming to pick the girls up early"

Vic: "What girls, they are not here? Is it Tuesday already?"

Vic: "Oh no! x>&%$##, its Tuesday, I forgot to get the girls!"

Vic (panic mode): " Daine, I'm leaving right now to get them, I'm so sorry I forgot!"

Daine: (Laughing): "You don't have to, I will get them from the sitters."

Like I said, thank goodness for the rain, or this could have ended up badly. As Vic always says, "On the street, without a treat to eat".

Our America has a slogan, "No children left behind" and I say, "two children were left behind, and Vic felt like a behind"

Power Tools Part 2

After having a wonderful evening with friends from our small group, I told the story about Vic with a chain saw and other power tools. I've never seen someone laugh so hard at one of Vic's miscues. This one has not hit the blog yet so I thought I would share.

Vic and I are not alike. I like power, and she enjoys "easy". Our power tools are separated between "Tommy's" and the rest. I like the smell of gas and oil, and she just want them to run. I like to move around the lawn with ease, and she doesn't mind the cords.

I can't tell you how many times she has had problems with a blower leaf vacuum combinations. The shoot that the leaves sucks up into the bag has a switch on it to prevent you from putting your hand in the spinning blades. This is built in safety that works. When the switch goes bad, the machine turns on and off all the time and makes it very frustrating. Also, the power cord will come undone and loose to make you keep checking if the cord is bound up around a tree or flowerbed.

Every spring for cleanup, it seems to happen, and she continues to fall for the same thing. I stand in the garage, plugging, and unplugging the power cord over and over, and watch Vic get frustrated. She looks at the cord to see that it is plugged in, and the shoot for correct position. After 30-60 seconds, I jump out and she has a few choice words.

When I told this story, this weekend, Ron one of our friends laughed so hard, he almost fell off his chair. We also learned about Ron and Sues cloths pin competition within their family that continues to this day. (very interesting and fun) (another post some time).

We always have a great time, and I can't wait until Vic gets that blower out again, so we can have "power tools, part XX"

As always, keep laughing not at Vic but with her about the crazy things she does.

No Time

I've taken a long time to add to this blog. Sorry guys! I'm now committing to post at least every two weeks or so. I've made these commitments in the past, (new years resolutions, weight loss, keeping in touch with friends, etc. with no avail. Sometimes I call it convenient amnesia) As I've always said, "I have enough friends, I don 't need any more." Vic is always looks to get to know people more and develop new friendships. I seem to drag her down. (opposites do attract.)

Important updates:

1-Vic continues to be Vic. I have many stories of that have been accumulating. I need to get on the writing wagon and do some posts.
2-Ron is getting married next year to Becca! (End of May 2008 wedding)
3-Ashleigh is still in School! (OK I don't think this is big news, but she does want to take a break and pursue a career in professional snow boarding competitions.)
4-Shelby turned 16 this week! (Some people forgot her birthday, but Vic and I think its a milestone)
5-I continue to be very busy, and I need add stores to the blog.

I hope everything is well in your life. I will post soon, so stay in touch.

What was I going to do again,? I've lost me to-do-list from yesterday, and need to get organized.

yea, Tom