Finish Line

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Pam Lazos

[photo by H.G. Reifsnyder]

***

I don’t have a lot of pictures of my father. This one was taken over three decades ago by an old BF who, years after my father died, thought I might like to have it.  My dad died in January 1994, a quarter century ago now, and while it’s true, time does heal all wounds, it doesn’t remove the scars that build up over them.

I don’t think about my dad every day the way I did when the wound was fresh, nor have I ever been to those same depressive depths that I experienced in the year following his death, a depression so deep you couldn’t find me with a periscope.  Those were the dark days, the lost weeks, the months when every thought brought more sadness than I could assimilate and just breathing hurt.  It took me the better part of two years to shake the pain.  Sometime after surfacing, I wrote the piece that follows.

Oh, the hours my father and I would sit at the kitchen table and talk and snack and drink Greek coffee and smoke cigarettes (a habit I gave up long ago, thankfully).

“Come shoot the shit with me,” he’d say, and hours later we’d still be talking, my mom long gone, off to watch a television show or something.  How I long for even one of those hours with him, a bit of time to unload some of the troubles of the day, to have his ever attentive ear and always excellent advice.  Someday again, I’m sure, but for now, I’ll have to make due with my memories.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad.  Hope you’re having a nice coffee somewhere, and that you finally quit the cigs.

Finish Line

It was Christmas and my father was dying. Not by degrees, as he had been doing since his operation to remove the cancer that had taken over his once healthy esophagus, but quickly and inexorably like Genghis Khan, invading Eurasia, decimating the local population. Years of cigarette smoking had finally grabbed my father by the throat. Now, one operation, two years, and some fifty pounds lighter, he’d stopped eating.

December 28 — Gus’s birthday. I met my parents at one of their favorite restaurants, an Italian place halfway between their home and mine. My father insisted we go despite a lack of appetite. He knew what he was doing, taking my mother out one last time, his birthday his excuse.  Gus ordered shrimp and ate a single one. No linguine, no broccoli rabe, no crusty bread. Just one lousy shrimp, cut up into smaller than bite-sized pieces, and even then it looked hard going down.

The next day my mother reported my father had almost driven off the road going home. He’d fallen asleep. I wasn’t surprised given that the breadth of his diet of late would leave a Yogi lightheaded. My father had never fallen asleep at the wheel. He was a salesman and drove for a living, shuttling cigarettes from news agencies to grocery stores and beyond, wherever his wares were in demand. Never mind he was working; his car gave him wings. Every day, he’d have lunch with a different client, swapping jokes and stories. It wasn’t the job he should have had, what with his quick, analytical mind and steel-trap memory for historical facts and figures. He should have been a lawyer, but he was born to Greek immigrant parents who’d fled to the U.S. to escape Turkish persecution and they had their hands full assimilating.

Now he could neither eat nor drive. The fluffy blanket of life that had enveloped him for sixty years had become flat and threadbare.

A couple days after the driving incident I went to my parents’ house. My father had been under self-imposed house arrest since his birthday. He was not eating, barely drinking, certainly not driving. He was a shell of his post-operation self which had been a shell of his former life-embracing self. Like a mirror reflecting back an image onto another mirror and then another, the image bouncing on and on into infinity, he was growing smaller and smaller without ever actually disappearing.

My mother was her typical strong, stoic self. Instead of crying, she swept: the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor, the living room, the porch, the driveway, wherever you could take a broom or vacuum. Sweeping grounded her, kept her tethered to an earth that would soon be devoid of her husband of thirty years. Sweeping was her medication, her chocolate, her daytime soap opera.

In a show of solidarity, I would have liked to sweep too, but I hated sweeping.  I dealt with difficulty better while in motion:  I walked the dog; I ran errands; I drove back and forth between our residences about a million times. Keep moving was my mantra.

So off I was about to go on some very important errand when my dad announced he wanted to go with me. Me as the driver; he as the passenger. I was at that moment in life when the parent and child roles reversed either through infirmary, dementia or some random insidious disease on the seemingly endless list of modern medical disasters that may afflict our parents. How many times had I ridden shotgun with my father when he ran the Saturday morning errands to the bank, the bakery, the gas station? Too many to count.

“Last ride in the van,” he said as he struggled to climb in despite my ready assistance. The lump in my throat had all the properties of cement block.

Before he got sick and for as long as I can remember, my father loved the horses. He and my mother would go to the racetrack many a Saturday night. My mother went because she loved my father, but my father, he was addicted. Sometimes he would drive midweek by himself all the way to the track just to place a bet, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, listening to talk radio the whole way. In a perfect world, he would have been a professional handicapper – someone who picked winning horses for a living. It involved skill and addiction to risk, two things he possessed in great quantities, but there’s really no job security in handicapping, and then there was us, his family. So he sold cigarettes which paid the mortgage and sent us to college — it just didn’t make him happy. He was the most joyous and most despondent man I knew, possessed of more character in any given minute than some accrued over a lifetime. He was both vice and virtue – a self-contained yin and yang – a pure divine spark of God’s light and dark.

Now he was close to dying – my rock, my strength and all those things dads are supposed to be. I was a sensitive, self-critical child. My dad had talked me off the proverbial ledge more times than I’d care to admit. Surely every father does this for his child? Ah, but I knew better. Few men had the wit, the intellect and dead-on observational qualities of my father. He could read people like they came with instructions, a quality I unfortunately did not inherit. He could also hold a grudge like nobody’s business, but I digress.

Now he was leaving. If I felt like throwing up, imagine how my mother felt?

It was a testament to his strength that he lasted two more weeks without food and only a few sips of water now and again. Unable to sleep, he’d wander the house like a ghost, catching cat naps in his living room chair when he got tired. I’d keep watch on the couch while my father sat in his armchair. By morning, he’d be watching me sleep. Even in dying, the strength he exhibited was remarkable.

“You’ll always be a giant in my eyes,” I whispered.

In response, he teared up, pretty un-giant-like by men’s standards, but proving my point. Gussie was unlike most men. He embraced the entire range of his emotions with the verve of one who knows just how satisfying a good belly laugh, a good cry, and all the space in between could be. So while his body disintegrated, his mind shouldered on and in those last weeks he spoke with almost everyone who loved him and more importantly, made amends with everyone he’d ever disagreed with over the years, asking pardon for his part in the disintegration of those friendships. In the end he had created his own absolution, needing no priest to do it for him.

That last night he laid down for the first time in the hospital bed we’d rented a few weeks earlier. We had put the bed in my room so I slept there next to him in my childhood bed, listening to him breathe. At 4:30 A.M. I woke up, knowing something was about to happen. I clearly heard a voice, maybe my own Higher voice, say, “If you turn around now you can watch him leave.” I froze in terror unable to move. How long I stayed that way I don’t know. When I awoke a couple hours later, my father’s body was cold, his spirit gone.  Perhaps it would have been too much for me, watching him go.

We sprinkled his ashes across the finish line at the racetrack which is what he wanted. Gussie had a friend who had a friend who got us into the track a few hours before it even opened.  I stood there, dead center of the finish line, and tipped the plastic bag, meaning to sprinkle the ashes from end to end.  Gussie had other plans. 

The wind picked up and ashes swirled everywhere: on my clothes, in my hair, even up my nose, giving me one final kiss before another sudden wind change scattered them in a billion purposeful directions.  This time I did see him go. 

I often wonder if the horses who ran that night felt his spirit there, cheering them on as they thundered across that finish line. I know I still do.

pam lazos 6.16.19

About Pam Lazos

writer, blogger, environmentally hopeful
This entry was posted in father's day and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

54 Responses to Finish Line

  1. Sophia Ismaa says:
    July 18, 2019 at 9:23 pm

    He sounds like he was a wonderful father. I really liked the part where you said he could read people like they came with instructions/instruction manual and hold a grudge too. 😂 I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sure he’d be proud of you, you seem lovely.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. jeanleesworld says:
    July 9, 2019 at 10:55 am

    Oh you know how I feel about this, Pam. So, so powerful. And so true! These relationships, these ways we work through our feeling. Sweeping is for your mother what laundry was for my mother: just, constantly doing it, constantly doing SOMEthing to keep moving. And yet Dad’s laundry remained in its basket for months after…
    You wrote this beautifully. Emotions and memories lovingly matched to their words and set carefully in place. Hugs to you from Wisconsin, and a toast to our fathers above. xxxxxxx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Carol A. Hand says:
    June 30, 2019 at 9:34 pm

    An absolutely beautiful tribute to your father, Pam, and told with such profound, heartbreaking eloquence.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Cynthia & Bob says:
    June 24, 2019 at 10:08 pm

    Hi, Pam. Beautifully written tribute to your dad. I like the wedding picture and the picture on the horse. Hope you get to chat with him more frequently in dreams and the like. Bob

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  5. Ally Bean says:
    June 21, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    You’ve written a moving tribute to your father. I love the photo of him as a child on the horse. I’m glad that you were nearby when he passed and that his ashes ended up exactly where they should be. Holidays dedicated to parents can be difficult, but you’ve done a wonderful job of balancing the good with the not-so-good moments. Well done.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  6. theburningheart says:
    June 20, 2019 at 2:52 am

    Some things need to be said, and a few need to be written, even after twenty-five years, this tribute belongs for others to know about your Father’s memory, and for us to share something of your love for him into our hearts, through your recollection.

    Thank you Pam, our hearts are with you. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  7. Michele Anderson says:
    June 20, 2019 at 12:38 am

    What a beautiful family Pam. So wonderful to have had a father like yours, and so precious to be loved the way you love your father. xo

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  8. Marie Q Rogers says:
    June 19, 2019 at 11:06 pm

    Your father sounds like someone I would have liked to have known. After reading this, I almost feel like I did. Thank you for the moving tribute.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  9. Resa says:
    June 19, 2019 at 8:12 pm

    A sweet sweet piece of life, told lovingly by you!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  10. lindasschaub says:
    June 18, 2019 at 12:55 am

    Pam, this was a wonderful tribute to your Dad – you had me spellbound to the last word. The first post I ever read by you was the tribute to your mom – such powerful writing for both posts Your parents were attractive together and your mom was a beautiful bride – what a lovely dress she wore.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  11. TanGental says:
    June 17, 2019 at 11:53 pm

    What a delightful tribute, Pam. It’s good to dig back and concentrate on those nuances once in a while and fascinating how time not only gives perspective but pulls out visions that wouldn’t have emerged but fir that distance. I’m glad he dusted you at the end. It means you’ll have plenty on t8mes when you know he’s not just in your dna but everywhere.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  12. hilarymb says:
    June 17, 2019 at 5:41 pm

    Hi Pam – desperately beautiful memories as well as the sadness you experienced at his passing and still today. You were very lucky … and lucky to have spent time with him … He was strong and courageous in many ways – starting when he and your mother left for the States … a challenging time too. A very good Finish Line story … sad, but with those special memories by a daughter. Thank you – Hilary

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  13. Catwoods says:
    June 17, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    What a lovely tribute to your father, Pam, and what a moving and meaningful account of memories, both the wonderful and the sad.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  14. Jacqui Murray says:
    June 17, 2019 at 3:38 pm

    Lovely memories, Pam. I have very few of my Dad. Definitely a 1950’s dad.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  15. SpiritualJourney17 says:
    June 17, 2019 at 3:35 pm

    A heartfelt and beautiful tribute to your dad. Sweet memories etched in our hearts. xo

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  16. lillyevechristie says:
    June 17, 2019 at 12:18 pm

    What wonderful memories and pictures, such a good looking couple, great blog!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  17. lampmagician says:
    June 17, 2019 at 12:18 pm

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts and memories 🙏❤

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  18. cath says:
    June 17, 2019 at 11:23 am

    What a beautiful testament, and how wonderful that you were able to share your love with him, and now with us.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  19. picopico88 says:
    June 17, 2019 at 11:17 am

    Hey Pam- what an awesome person and Dad and what evocative writing. I saw the images of your life as I read your essay and they are now like memories. Such vivid images, through the tears.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
    • Pam Lazos says:
      June 17, 2019 at 11:46 am

      Thank you, Lydia. I think I told you that one of the things that got me through the dark days was my nightly walk from work to the train station with Dan. He has no idea of the stabilizing force he has been in my life.❤️

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
  20. Susan Scott says:
    June 17, 2019 at 9:27 am

    O my goodness Pam – no words, really for your father who was clearly larger than life. Thank you for this exquisite tribute to your Dad. No doubt you keep on talking with him …

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  21. shehannemoore says:
    June 17, 2019 at 8:44 am

    Pam, such a magnificent post and tribute, truly. You brought a tear to my eyes. So much truth in all you said of grief. SO many things here to identify with. And please let me say such beautiful parents.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  22. Yeah, Another Blogger says:
    June 17, 2019 at 1:22 am

    This is a magnificent tribute, a magnificent essay.

    Your father was a wonderful man.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  23. Sandra says:
    June 17, 2019 at 12:40 am

    Very touching memories and so well written by a daughter who very much loved her parents. I felt it in every word you wrote.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  24. Ken Dowell says:
    June 17, 2019 at 12:30 am

    A beautiful father’s day story. Felt emotional just reading it.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.