A Sense of Doubt blog post #4210 - Letter to Dad #50: Pressure Washing with Dad in Honor of his Passing Two Years Ago

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4210 - Letter to Dad #50: Pressure Washing with Dad in Honor of his Passing Two Years Ago

Hi Big Guy, 

It is fitting that on the day before the second year since you died, my letters to you feature hits fifty.

No more significance to this number other than it's a special number enroute to one hundred, so it is notable.

Also, BTW, I am publishing this and the next six posts  (seven in all) at 13:40 instead of 10:10. The time of your death, Dad.

Even more fitting is what I will do tomorrow on the second year since your death that I am going to pressure wash patio, drive ways, deck, and porch. So, in that spirit, I am reprinting here when we pressure washed together before staining the deck at St. Antoine in Kalamazoo a color that was not approved, so we had to re-do it!

Before that reprint, not much to report. Back to teaching creative writing, which I have not taught for five years, and of course the whole course is changed.

Making time for my own writing at a pretty solid clip, so I am proud of that.

Start my Practicum (not internship yet but essentially the same thing) on Monday. 

Things are going well.

I miss you and love you, Dad.

~ christopher

Link to the original post I am reprinting below:

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #357 - Work days with the Big Guy

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #357 - Work days with the Big Guy

Hi Mom, This one's mostly pictures. There's been lots of work around here lately with the Big Guy, my Dad, you know, Robert "Bob" Tower, your husband.

In the photo above, I had to insist that Dad smiled. It's a good smile.

This photo gallery charts our power washing of the deck and then staining the deck.

Liesel does not like the stain color (see sample pick of the color swatch below). But the staining of the deck is more about preserving the wood than looks. We needed solid stain. She wanted grey. We miscommunicated.

AND we will need to power wash again later this summer or early in the fall. We skipped a section of the house because we were running out of time and energy.

As you know, Mom, Dad and I have always done these work days. They used to be in support of our home, ours together as a family. But now, mostly, they are in support of my home with Liesel and the kids.

Dad told me that  a year ago he would not have been able to do all this work. He's doing yoga, and it's really helped him.

Also, he was taking care of you, and in your last two years, it was not as easy for us to bring you along and stash you in front of a TV or for a nap on the a couch.

I know these pictures would be interesting to you, Mom; you would look at them all, nodding and smiling. But my other readers may not find much of interest here. Still, I like our work and the before-after progression of the deck staining. I have also added my Instagram/Twitter/Facebook posts and captions. "SO MUCH DIRT!!!"

These times with my Dad are precious. I would not trade them for anything in the world.

Satchel: "I want to come outside, please."
Me: "No, you are already covered with stain."

Satchel, thinking: "How could I get outside without his help."
Me: "Satchel, don't even think you're getting outside until the stain dries."

ALL DONE!! Four days later, the deck looks great, if you like cape grey as a color that is.

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Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

I miss you so very much, Mom.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 359 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1606.28 - 10:10

NOTE on time: When I post late, I had been posting at 7:10 a.m. because Google is on Pacific Time, and so this is really 10:10 EDT. However, it still shows up on the blog in Pacific time. So, I am going to start posting at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time, intending this to be 10:10 Eastern time. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom. But I am not going back and changing all the 7:10 a.m. times. But I will run this note for a while. Mom, you know that I am posting at 10:10 a.m. often because this is the time of your death.





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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2608.27 - 13:40

- Days ago: MOM = 4074 days ago & DAD = 729 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.