What's your favorite memory of your dad?

One of my most favorite memories of my dad is that he would take me places instead of Mom from an early age.  Mom would get sick and be bedridden and Dad would have tickets to the symphony or opera.  I would go instead.  Dad would carefully teach me about what were going to listen to or see and we would head off.  I loved those outings and I learned to love classical music because of them. It is probably my favorite genre of music to this day.

When I was 10, Dad had a big conference in West Berlin (at the time it was behind the Berlin Wall).  Grandma and Grandpa Brugger were going and Mom was going with Dad.  Just before the conference, Mom was hospitalized for a few days and couldn't go because she was still recovering.  I got to go instead.  I felt so grown up!  We were there 6 days and I had a wonderful time.  Dad's meeting took up the morning and then we had the rest of the day to sight-see.  One of my best memories with my father as a child.

The summer before I went to college, I was having kind of rough time and so I was fasting.  I was trying to puzzle through some dilemma by myself.  Dad came to me and said, "Tell your very own personal father what is going on."  I did and was able to see that what was bugging me was not that big of a deal.  Ever since - when I have a problem I need to talk to Dad about that IS a big deal, I tell him I need to speak to my very own personal father.  He knows then that I need his undivided attention.  This doesn't happen often but it is code between the two of us. 

My other memory that I love of my father - though this is not a childhood memory - is how delighted he was to hold each of my daughters as a newborn and each of my sister's daughters as newborns.  I was not privy to my brother's children's births except for Katherine and he was delighted with her too.  I was tickled at the total adoration he had for them.  He would visit with them on his lap for the longest time  - whenever he got the chance.