My Dad & Me, 1

Just some stories about me and my Dad. 
Many of them are from when I was little;
that's when I got the most time with him. 
I was an only child until I was 6, and my sister got my dad
all to herself for 6+ years after I left the house for college. 
I'm sure we both have great stories from
when we got to both individually take our turns as "daddy's girl."


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When I was little, my family and I (only 3 of us - it never got bigger than 4 until I married)
lived in a part of town that was near many things:
the grocery store,
the bowling alley my parent's owned,
the daycare I attended,
and the park.

My dad would take a break from fixing the machines at the bowling alley to
come get me from daycare for a walk to the park.

Our favorite things to do at the park
                                 - well, at least my favorite things to do -
were going on the merry-go-round and
going on the swings.

I remember Dad making me sit in the middle of the
merry-go-round
to keep from flying off;
it thankfully worked, and I giggled like crazy every time
he pushed those rusty red and yellow bars. 

Despite how fun the merry-go-round was,
the best was when he'd push me on the swing.

After Dad got his second or third surgery, he
told me a lot of the same stories, and one of those was
how I'd always tell him to swing me "higher, Dad, higher!" when
we did the swing - the farthest one on the right.

It is probably borderline-illegal to push a twig-like little girl
as high as my dad did, but man - 
was that fun.

My favorite part about our trips to the park, though,
was the walks.
There was something about my dad having me hold onto his
two fingers instead of his hand
                                   - so I could actually get a good grip -
that just felt so special, even for a little kid. 

It's how I have little kids hold onto my hands today - learned from my dad.