See you on the other side Soupy!

Soupy, Pete, Donald, Dad Dad, Sarge, Don, Dad! So many names to match the many different sets of people who loved him.
I lost my own father when I was 16 to a hard fought battle with Leukemia so when I fell in love with Don, I was thrilled to have a father figure in my life again. We had a great 22 years together. I like to cook and he was the best cook/baker I have ever known since my Dad passed away. They were two of a kind in that way. You know, the throw in a bit of this and a pinch of that kind of cook that only time spent cooking on a Navy ship can teach. Dad C made the best stuffing I have ever savored. So last November, seems I had taken over the Thanksgiving dinner, I asked if we could prepare it together. I mean he had it written down but I am a visual learner. So we spent several hours in his kitchen together and I learned the nuances that go into making that delicious turkey stuffing. It is so much more than ingredients: it is the way you cut the bread and let it stale. It is the way you cook the sausage and bacon and then use that same grease to saute the celery. (Hey, I never said it was healthy!) I keep thinking back to that day together and so many other wonderful memories of my father-in law. He was a master story teller. He was a devoted husband. He was a loving father. He was a funny and wise daddad to my kids. He was colorful yet gentle. He was a problem solver. He was a protector. He was a true patriarch in every way and our family now has a huge void gaping hole. On Tuesday night about two hours after we said goodbye to this giant of a man, we had gathered at my mother in laws home and the roof shook and an overwhelming sound of rain quieted us all. We ran to the window to watch a thunderous downpour that stopped almost as soon as it started. We all just looked at each other and I turned and cried. "He is there! He made it to heaven. He wanted us to know he got there!' We all agreed especially the next day when others in Catonsville said that it hadn't rained at their house that night before. Oh, he is in heaven all right! He and our girl Meghan and my Dad as well. Can you smell that? Yup, smells just like celery sauteing in a pan of bacon fat.....mmm!