Thinking

I have been fishing a bit during our latest homestand. I caught some pike and a largemouth bass. Then while fishing I saw a moose cooling off in the lake near the place where we keep our boat. As I fished I thought about many things, this is one of my thoughts.

As we travel over the hundreds of miles of blue lines on a map, one of our favorite things is to listen to audiobooks. We have explored the islands in the Pacific through the humorous writings of Maarten Troost. We listened to his The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific and were so taken with his odd take on island life that we followed up with, Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu. We laughed out loud as we rumbled on down his road and ours, the time passing surprisingly fast each day.

Following those adventures, we listened to books by comedians Jay Mohr, Howie Mandel, and Billy Crystal. All were very good; funny yet provoking. Each told of the various insecurities they had and how hard they had to work to become successful comedians. All three writers gave in-depth looks into their childhoods and what growing up provided them when they became successful adults. Again we enjoyed listening as we traveled.

Today, I was sitting out in the sun and my thoughts grabbed on to something that all three writers had said in their books. During the descriptions of their childhood, each one mentioned a quote from their fathers that had stuck with them as they grew older. Some of the thoughts were heavy and they used them to guide their way to adulthood.  Other quotes were funny and brought warm feelings of being with their fathers back into their memories.

Sitting in the warm sun, I thought back to my dad and I immediately remembered something he said every day. It was a small thing, but dad used it as his go-to acknowledgment.  Whenever someone thanked Dad, which was quite often, his reply would be “You bet!”  When he held the door for someone and they nodded thanks, he would reply “You bet!”  I must have heard him say those two words a million times, always with a smile and a nod of his head.  Over the phone, you could tell when a customer thanked him as they said goodbye because Dad would end the call with a “You bet! Good-bye!”

I smiled thinking about this little phrase. It was part of my life with my wonderful father and now that I think about it, I realize that I say the same thing quite often.  It is also my go-to acknowledgment. I say it every time someone thanks me. It’s automatic.

Now I know I have gotten many things from my parents; singing from my Mom and thumb twiddling from my Dad, to name a couple. They are a part of being this human named Dean. They are ever-present in my being just like my personal space bubble and my quiet nature.  I am so thankful that my parents raised me the way they did and instilled in me all the things that make me the way I am. 

I know that if my folks were alive today and I thanked them for all they did, Mom would smile and probably cry and Dad would say “You bet!”

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Note: Our truck is in for repair. It turned out to be a sensor in the transmission was bad. We are having it replaced and then they will do a full transmission service on the unit. Total for repairs and service, about $800. Ouch!