Dad

Dad in his "younger days", age 93


Dad, age 95, sketching portraits in the mall

Well, I'll bet you're wondering where I've been! Me too! Actually, I've been taking care of my dad, who lives with me. He's very old now, 96 to be exact, and has been ill for the last month. Since he has just announced that he has no plans to live to be 97, I thought I would introduce you to him before he departs this earth. Everybody, including me, loves my dad. He's an artist, so apparently I am following in his footsteps. His parents, farm people who immigrated from Lithuania, disapproved of their young son's desire to be an artist. So when he was in his early 30's, he channeled all his creative energies into designing and running a miniature golf course in Sioux City, Iowa. He built it on his parent's farmland, much to the amazement of the city. No one had heard of a mini-golf course, and everyone thought he had lost his mind. But that mini-golf course became so popular that it ended up being one of the major hot spots of the city, and Dad became a celebrity of sorts.

When he retired at 80, he began going to the local mall and sketching people while sitting in the food court. When Mom died 7 years later, I decided he should move to Minneapolis and live with me. That was 7 years ago. He's been amazing adaptable, independent and appreciative of all that surrounds him, and I am lucky to have such a great dad. His mind is sharp as a tack, but unfortunately, he has spinal stenosis which means he has great difficulty walking now, even with his walker. Up until just recently, he has been going to a nearby mall where he is a "regular" with buddies who hang out with him while he sketches in the food court. He says giving away his portraits to the sitters is a way to feel that he is contributing something, which he says is important for him at his age (at any age, I say!).

I think his portraits are amazing, considering he can barely see any more, and I'm going to show you a few of them in the next few days. Also, as you can see from these photos, he looks 20 years younger than his age!