Weekend Dad

After my parents divorce we only saw our Dad every other weekend. Saying that makes me realize why he didn't think he was getting enough visitation time. My Dad loved us more than anything in the world and he always let us know that. Even though he could have bad mouthed our Mom he never did (not to us anyway). It wasn't until we were in our teens that he opened up about coming home and finding that we were gone. He was devastated.  My Dad and my Uncle were very close and even went vacationing together. This was a bit of a sore spot as he was married to my Mom's sister but I think he saved my Dad. He was there for him at the time he was needed most.

We had a great time when we went to his house. Of course because he stayed in the house we had all of our friends and our backyard pool. My Dad dated a few women after he and my Mom split up. One of the most memorable was a woman who had no interest in us kids. She was very self centered and when she told my Dad that she would see him when we weren't around he told her that they were done.

Dad also bought a cottage on Chemong lake near Peterborough. That's where we had our best adventures.For anyone who knows Chemong Lake you know that there are some very weedy spots (actually alot of weedy spots). Our cottage was in a bay which made it that much weedier. The people who owned the cottage next door had cleared the weeds and had a beach which is where we swam from the most. They had a grandaughter around the age of my sister and I. We spent alot of time together. She also had cousins who visited their Grandparents a few doors down. They came up from the US every summer. Funny what we remember from our childhoods. I don't remember the names of the two girls but I alway remember the name of the boy. His name was TJ and the reason I remember this is because of the little bird that we would hear first thing each morning. We always said it was calling tee jay, tee jay!

We used to go up sometimes during the colder months and my uncle would come too. He had such a great imagination! He told us that the bunkhouse was actually a chocolate factory and he knew the secret of how to activate it. How could we dispute what he said when boxes of chocolate always appeared inside when he came. He was also a very good artist. I still have a watercolor painting he did of the cottage on the back page of one of my coloring books. We always had fun with him. That's just the kind of guy he was (although that does not make for a good husband). He passed away just before my son was born. I really miss him.

My Uncle introduced my Dad to my (now) Step Mom. Apparently he had gone to a bar one night and met two girls so he called my Dad. They hit it off immediately. She was going through a tough time raising five kids on her own. Her ex husband was an alcoholic and not much of a contributor. Anyway we got along great with her kids. Weekends at the cottage became even more of an adventure! We played baseball although somehow Dad's team always got stacked and a cry fest occurred before us non athletes quit. Kick the can was fun. Does anyone remember playing kick the can? It's kind of a different take on hide and seek. We used to go on day long hikes (just us kids) which when I think about now is a scary thought. We used to go through the woods and find our way to a general store which was about five miles away. We would take our lunch and come back before dinner. I'm actually not really sure how we found our way, we just did. There was a bay full of painted turtles where we used to go in the aluminum boat. Did you know that painted turtles bite? Coming home with one on my lap onetime I was bit. It actually clamped onto my elbow while I was driving the boat. We almost crashed as we tried frantically to smack it off. There were actually alot of snapping turtles in the lake. With the amount of weeds they had great places to hide. One time while swimming in the bay we saw a head come up that was about the size of a softball. We all scrambled to get out except for the youngest. We didn't want her to make a sudden movement because it was right behind her so we told her that her Mom said she had to come out. She said no that she didn't have to. After much futile arguement we finally told her to look behind her. As she started to swim the head went under. We raced into the water and grabbed her to get her out faster. We didn't swim in the bay after that.

Memories of weekends with my Dad are important to me. I wish I could share them all. I don't see him enough now which I think needs to change. The March Break is coming up and I am off work so I think we will pay him a visit.