Note: In celebration of Father’s Day, I’ve revised and am re-blogging a post from June of 2013, the year my father passed away. He was still alive when this was posted.
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My fondest childhood memories are of Dad and me listening to music together. Dad loved to play old standards on scratchy long-playing records by such artists as Fats Waller and Nat King Cole. These songs taught me lessons I’m sure Dad wanted me to learn.
If “The Joint is Jumpin’,” you’ll get in trouble. No man will like you if “Your Feet’s Too Big.” You’d better “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” I also learned to appreciate “Seafood, Mama” but not until I was an adult.
There’s one more lesson I learned from my father via Louis Armstrong. Despite the hateful things going on around us, we live in a “Wonderful World.” To all dads out there, I hope you have a special Father’s Day.
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Author Abbie Johnson Taylor
How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver
That’s Life: New and Selected Poems
