Dad-isms

(Anya and Dad holding hands)

Today marks two years since my Dad died.  This year, how about some of his most famous kinds of sayings?  Some of these are verbatim, while others capture the gist of the kind of things he would say.

1. After a meal, especially Sunday dinner at mid-day, Dad would say "I hate to say it, Martha, but that was a good meal."  (Thank you to Kevin for reminding me about that two years ago!)

2. Dad used to say "Not all of us can be chiefs; someone's got to be an Indian."  Okay, not PC, I admit.  But, it was Dad's way of explaining that it's okay to be...ordinary, not to be at the top all the time.  I think it's how he made sense of and took pride in his own life, though I doubt he would have seen it that way himself.

3. Dad used to advise me that it's better to have a machine with fewer parts, simpler.  Less likely to break.  Good point, Dad.

4. As the years passed, one of his standard lines was "It's hell to get old, but it beats the alternative."  (Thanks for beating the alternative, Dad.)

5. Okay, I don't have a line for this, but it bears saying that my Dad used to tell WWII stories all the time.  Not serious stuff, weird stuff.  The one about time he and his buddies stole a German generator comes to mind (they were drunk). 

6. Dad used to say that workers/democrats have supper at 5:00.  The wealthy/republicans have dinner at 7:00.  You guessed it: we ate supper at 5:00. 

I still miss you, Dad.

What lines remind you of your Dad?