Snippet of a painting for my Dad. Terri O.A. copyright 1993

         My Dad taught me so many things. He was a philosopher, a poet, a self-made man, and mostly he was a great Dad who taught me that life must be won daily. He loved to talk to people, he was truly interested in what they had to say, and had little thought of himself.  He loved to cook when he got the chance.  One night I came home at 1:00 am or so and Dad was waiting up for me although he would never admit that. In his boredom, he had made a purple concoction: grape juice, tea, and  a soft drink.  He was always proud of his food experiments, and usually he had a right to be. I took a sip, and we both laughed.  He knew it was bad, and I knew it was so bad. He froze it for the next day for another laugh.  I wish I could stand with him at that refrigerator right now; I would talk a little more, and laugh a little longer.  He had a great enthusiasm for life, and even with leukemia he laughed with life, about life, and talked to others about their worries. He said that God didn’t owe him a thing. My Dad the poet, the believer in freedom, the man who compared himself to an oak tree with its spreading branches that gave shade to everyone else smiled as he walked down that cancer road, but he didn’t walk alone!!  He was the bright and the beautiful part of life so in my journey of focus on what is good then it is so appropriate to think about him.      ……..Terri O.A.