My Dad Could Meet Anyone or Go Anywhere He Wanted…Even If He Wasn’t Allowed
If there was someone across a crowded room Dad wanted to meet, he met them. If there was somewhere Dad wanted to go, but maybe he wasn't allowed to do so, he'd go anyway.
The other day, my sister, nephew, and I were visiting my mother at Twin Rivers Nursing Home and that was the topic of conversation.
A couple of occurrences spring to mind, referring to the former.
Back in 1979, my family and another family traveled to Florida and for a couple of nights, we stayed at the Contemporary Hotel at Disney World. (I just checked to see if it is still there, and it is, which is good.)
The hotel fascinated me because the monorail went right through it. That's how you got there. For a 13-year-old kid, it was like we'd taken a time machine into the future.
On the first night we were there, Dad stuck his head in our room and asked who wanted to go looking around the hotel. I jumped at the opportunity. We hopped on the elevator and rode to the top floor where we discovered a huge party. Today, there would be enough security to choke an elephant and we'd never get that far. But back then, it was a veritable free-for-all.
On the other side of the room was legendary entertainer Pat Boone. I followed Dad as he walked over to him. He went right up, extended his hand, and said, "Well, Pat Boone, how in the world are you?" I thought he knew him. Nope. He just wanted to meet Pat Boone and that's how he did it.
A few years later, the late Jim Nabors was performing at the Executive Inn. Dad was down at the hotel on the afternoon Nabors was playing the Showroom Lounge that evening and saw him sitting in the cafe outside the Showroom drinking a cup of coffee. Dad went and struck up a conversation with the then-living legend and, what do you know, Jim Nabors asked him to sit down and join him.
As for Dad going anywhere he wanted...in 1982, he and Mom went for a little weekend getaway in Memphis. That trip, as most do when it comes to that city, included a visit to Graceland. Well, when they got there, Dad walked right through a gate he wasn't supposed to walk through. And he got pretty far up the drive until a security guard came and told him he couldn't be there. Dad charmed the guy and all was good.
It's Father's Day weekend. If you can, hang out with your dad.
Who knows who'll you'll meet or where you'll go?