Dad was a Pisces, born 2/22/22. His Sun, Venus, Uranus, and ascendant were conjunct in Pisces. My brother, Gary (Pisces), sister, Jennifer (Taurus), and I (Gemini) were well aware of how blessed we were. If the definition of a genius is an average kid with a Jewish Mother, ours was father. He was our biggest fan. When I was seven years old, I played a Chopin Prelude on the radio. Dad distributed radios to my whole grade school. He made sure everyone we knew listened. Despite my mortification, I quickly became a celebrity in our little community, which turned out to be fun.

I never got to read dad’s hands, nor did I ever find a decent photo of them. He died suddenly and unexpected at age 54 of a massive heart attack. I remember loving his hands as a child. They were warm, strong, and capable. He had a firm hand shake, a grip of steel, and an energetic touch that was always gentle and loving.

Dad was an incredible storyteller. Hardly a night went by in early childhood when my brother, sister, and I didn’t go on an exciting far off imaginary adventure at bedtime. “BoBo” the gorilla and “Squeaky” the mouse were friends ~ two magical characters that dad physically performed for us. I told Bobo stories to Cassie many times in her early childhood and can imagine her telling her children and them telling their children one day.

I know, it’s a corny salesman’s tool, but dad would ask people if they’d like to see his ‘Pride and Joy’. Dad always worked for a fixed salary. I never understood why. I believe it was probably because I was conceived on the night my folks were married and born nine months and one day later. He certainly rose with grace and dignity to embrace his responsibilities. Ironically, dad never found anything to sell that truly inspired him. He sold crystal, candles, pens, furniture, life insurance, and real estate.

The reason Dad was a great salesman was his desire and ability to care about people. Everybody looked forward to seeing him and he was as happy as a puppy to see them. Dad remembered everyone’s important personal stuff and made them glad to be themselves when he was around. His heartwarming smile and comical humor was contagious. Click here to watch dad in action. He created commercials for our family movies. The quality of the video isn’t great because it was converted from old 8mm film. It’s impossible not to laugh at the content.