Every third Saturday in June, we celebrate Father’s Day! This is the day we honor fatherhood and those unbreakable paternal bonds. Kudos to those dads that teach you how to drive a car, manage money, eat slowly, and enjoy your food, as my Dad did to me! 

I was lucky to have my maternal Grandpa, Joe Zabuski, in my life for 15 years. William Howard Taft was president when my Grandpa was born in 1911. He also shared the same birth year as Ronald Reagan and Ginger Rogers.

 My Grandpa Zabuski was quite a character! I remember his grey, thinning hair, his dark-tanned skin, his husky voice, sagging jowls, and his whole body shaking when he laughed. His laugh always ended up in a coughing fit most likely from years of smoking and emphysema.

He moved slowly and shuffled his feet when he walked. I’m sure his body was tired from working on the assembly line at the Chevrolet plant in Detroit for many years. His personality came across as gruff but I remember him being a softy. His favorite place was in his chair by the bay window in his living room watching The Price Is Right or his favorite old movie, The African Queen. When he ate his Windmill cookies, he always gave me a couple, even if it was close to dinner time.

My Grandpa was also really quirky!  Most mornings he took a drive to the local Burger Chef for breakfast and brought home a bunch of jelly packs. He stored them in a pull-out kitchen drawer in neat little stacks. He also took frequent trips to the local drugstore. He was good pals with all the employees and they all knew him by name. My grandparents liked to gamble so I’m thinking he went there to play the “numbers” as they called it. When he died they sent flowers.

In their furnished basement, his pride and joy was his bar. Sitting on top was an electric round sign that he proudly displayed. One side said Joe’s Bar – Open and the other side read, Joe’s Bar – Closed. My grandma’s Fresca Tiffany-style hanging light over the table near the bar completed the ensemble of his hangout. 

On March 7, 1983, when I came home from school during my sophomore year in high school, my Mom told me he died. He was the first relative close to me that passed away. Maybe that’s why I remember the experience so vividly as he lay in his brown suit and the song Bridge Over Troubled Water playing as I looked at him for the last time. 

As his adult granddaughter, 40 years after his death, I would describe him as a hard-working, blue-collar simple man that was truly, a kind soul. When our whole family visited from Ohio we often got rambunctious and loud when we were together as he sat in the family room by himself watching his “pictures” on TV. He would act irritated by all the commotion and noise but I really think he was very content knowing his family was all together having fun in the next room. He was that kind of guy. Happy Father’s Day, Grandpa Zabuski. I never stopped loving you.

Some of my posts are meant more as a journal for my kids and family. I will occasionally write about family members to preserve my thoughts and memories. Thank you for your continued support. Hopefully, my words will trigger heartwarming feelings in your family as well.

Happy 1st Father’s Day to my nephew, Danny! I love how sweet Violet melts when you’re with her. She’s so lucky to have you as her dad.