Thursday, December 23, 2010

Fran, the Man.

My Daddy is Fran and he's the MAN!  He use to drive me crazy, now he amuses me.  We live in different worlds, mine has feelings and rainbows, his has facts and sports.  I always look for the good in people and he was always trying to protect me from getting hurt.  He has taught me to not care what others think and I have taught him to think about other people's feelings.  It's an interesting job for fathers to try to relate to their daughters and daughters to figure out their dads...or is that the other way around?  What we have in common is a LOVE for our family, food, laughing, oldies music, and Neil Diamond.  That's all you need right?  If it were up to him maybe I'd be a meat eating, sports playing, quiet person.  Haha!  He would have nothing to tease me about then-that's how he loves me-busting my chops.  If he likes you, he makes fun of you with a big smile on his face.  He means no harm.  Don't worry, you'll know if he doesn't like you, he just won't talk to you.  He's been known to get into an argument with guys thirty years younger who back down from him.  It's his mob vibe-he's always given off this mobster feeling, especially when he's in a suit.

What he also taught me are sayings and words that no one else uses.  I call them: Franisms.  Some come from back in the day maybe or where he grew up in Philadelphia (Fishtown) but here's a sample. Pretty much almost every day, we'll be talking about someone and he says, "Somethin' not right there."  He has a good  good people radar though, from his years of bartending.  If you are ever sitting next to him at church, you'll be cracking up. He will comment about someone's baby, "that baby looks like Abe Bagoda" or someone we have never heard of.  Or "that kid looks like he was hit was an ugly stick."  He is never quiet and if someone notices I just smile, what are you gonna do, he's funny!  He has that razor sharp wit.  "She ain't no box of chocolates" when he's referring to people, we do or do not know, that are not perfect.  Because we of course are perfect.  This can be used with celebrities or politicians also.  "He's losing his feathers," means a man is going bald.  "Soup coolers" are big lips.  "Double seaters" are people with a little junk in their trunk.  My Dad, mind you, is very athletic but not thin.  He means no harm, my grandmother use to tell it like it is also.  "Bum wheels" is when you have bad feet.  He's got some "bad Chiclets" (remember that gum) means teeth.  If a little kid wakes up from a nap in hysterics, they are like "a bag of cats."  Totally true!  If you ask him too many questions, he says, "Whada writin' a book?"  If you put a second helping on your plate, "The governor called," as in you will not be executed.  When we watch vacationers on the beach, who are letting it all hang out, "I guess they don't have mirror."  One time we were walking on a sixty degree day and this older lady had ear muffs and gloves and he say, "She looks like she is going to a snowstorm"  Not Alaska or Antarctica, a snowstorm!  My husband and I laughed out loud. 

You never know what he's gonna say, it keeps things exciting.  My kids are quite amused by him also-he is a wonderful grandfather.  I'm glad they bring him so much joy.  And he gives them the best bear hugs.  My dad, Francis Xavier Glenning is your modern day Archie Bunker and like Archie, loves his family, he knows what's best for everyone-and he's going to tell you. He's one of a kind.  I love my Dad!

1 comment:

  1. Jenny, This is wonderful! I just love it! What a wonderful picture you paint of a man whom you most obviously love.

    Parents are an interesting topic - both in trying to understand our own and then in trying to be one. Being a parent definitely changes our perceptions, maybe it makes our own parents a bit easier to understand. But the fact remains, that you'll always be your daddy's little girl - and he'll always be your dad, the first man you ever looked up to.

    And that's a wonderful thing.

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