The Eye of the Tiger

My earliest memory with my dad is of sitting in the passenger seat of his 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix on a cold winter night in Athens, OH, while we were in an empty grocery store parking lot doing donut circles with the car in the snow. We were laughing as we said, "Wheeee!" One time I think he brought a tape recorder in the car so he could record my little voice say my familar "turn it Banessa," which meant that I wanted him to change the radio station to what I (Vanessa) wanted. (Oh, how I wish we could find that cassette tape!)

Other warm memories I remember having are helping him build a fire in our coal burning stove. Yes, I was literally born a Coal Miner's daughter. =-)

And I'll never forget the day when he came home from his next job as an Insurance Salesman. He proudly handed me a brown box with holes in it and I had no idea what it could be. Inside was a tiny little kitten just for me! We called him, "Tiger." Unfortunately, we had to give him away to our friend at the supermarket because he attacked me in the morning to bite my heels. We heard later that he grew to be almost as big as a bobcat and would hang from the lady's curtains. Yikes!

But even still, the word "Tiger" still had a great meaning to us. You see, my dad's favorite song to do his morning push-ups to was "The Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.



These weren't just ordinary push-ups... he did them with me on his back! As the music played, he would huff and puff while he did as many as he could. I would ask him to do as many as he could handle. I had a blast. When I was younger, I think I was told to lay flat on his back and hold his neck tight while he did it, but then as I grew, I just sat on his back. Push-up time was "our" time. He taught me how to whistle during one of these sessions. It was a time when we were so close. A time that he made me know that I was the only important thing to him.

My dad and I also share a love of horses. I remember when I was about 5-years-old he tried to take me to a local stable in Athens, OH, so that I could ride my first horse. I was so excited. But then when we got there, we learned that you had to be 9-years old to ride. We were bummed, but fortunately the place had canoes you could rent and we went canoeing. I remember it was a beautiful day and it was just me and my dad. It was so much fun.

When we ate at Dairy Queen, he made sure that I could be the one to throw away our garbage so I could hear the trash cans say "Thank You" in their robotic voice.

There are so many other fun phrases my dad came up with like "All you Gotta do is Ask" in response to my needing something, which taught me tenacity. He also made car trips fun by making a little chant for "Tunnel," which my brother and I eagerly anticipated as we approached the 3 tunnels that led us to our grandparents in Virginia and singing Alan Jackson's knee-slapping "Mountain Music" and "Chattahoochee."

I think I was about six-years-old when my dad brought me home a Cricket doll. I couldn't believe my eyes! It wasn't even a holiday, and here I was watching my dad coming home from work and up our driveway with a box that was so big it was covering his head as he carried it! In case you don't remember the 80's, Cricket was THE rage. She had a cassette tape player in her back. When you put in her special tapes they would make her mouth move at a specific rate to make it look like she was really talking; she moved her eyes around too. I had been asking for her and asking for her! (Hey, I guess he followed through with that 'All you gotta do is ask' line ;-)!!!! ) But you have to know my financially-savvy dad. My brother and I didn't get presents unless it was Christmas or our birthday. It wasn't that he was cheap, but times were tight. And I knew it. I was the luckiest girl in the world! I would have her today if her cassette player hadn't short-circuited.

Our financial difficulties didn't get any better for us in Athens after Black Monday hit on October 19, 1987, the day the stock market crashed worldwide. To me and to his insurance company, my dad was "A Record Breaking Stud," But on that day, the whole company practically died. Suddenly, there was no future there. My parents were scared and in under two weeks had a garage sale and moved us up to Cleveland where my aunt had miraculously talked with a man in her church who needed a salesman to sell his railroad parts (he learned so much that he now has his own company).

I had no idea what the word "moving" meant. We rented my uncle's old house in Strongsville, OH, for a year. The house was tiny, but it was fine for what we needed. It sat on a huge property and I caught the biggest Blue-Gill you've ever seen (I think it was something like 8-inches long.... but I was 7-years-old, so maybe it wasn't that big).

When we found our permanent house in Cleveland, OH, on Huntmere Rd., my dad became the neighborhood rage. He taught not only my brother and I how to ride our bikes, but I think he also taught a couple of the neighbor kids too. The neighborhood gathered around to ask, "Is Mr. Deel home?" so that we could all play a game that my dad grew up with called, "Roly Poly." This game was similar to baseball, except that there is no base running and no outs. Instead, after the batter hits a ball he must lay the bat on the ground and the outfielder runs to get the ball. As soon as the bat touches the ground, the outfielder has to freeze where they are and try to "roll" the ball to the bat. If he succeeds in touching the ball to the bat, then it becomes the outfielder's turn to bat. (If you want to try it out, here's a better explanation.) The neighborhood played this game endlessly with us during the summer days and came in our breezeway in the evening to learn the card games my dad grew up with like "Rummy" and "Gin Rummy."

My dad had a sincere faith in Jesus and covered my mom in teaching us about the Lord. We all knew that he did not have many phenomenal encounters of the Divine, but he was always open. My mom and dad became Christians together before they were married and my dad usually didn't feel comfortable to go to churches or functions without her. But I remember one night that for whatever reason, he decided to go alone to a revival service. When he came home, I was amazed. I'd never seen his eyes look as gentle as they did. His face was glowing and he asked all of us to come and touch his hands - which were so hot they felt like they were on fire. He told us that the Power of God had been all over him. We all knew it was true. I remember just looking up at my dad in awe. I'd never seen him touched by the Lord so deeply. It built my faith. God was real and was interested in our family.

He also invented a goodnight ritual that I now share with my daughter at bedtime, which we said as fast as we could to each other "God Bless You. I Love You. See you in the Morning. Good Night. Sweet Dreams. You're Wonderful. Jesus Loves You. [Kiss, Kiss]" (I loved it then and now my daughter says, "Again! Again!" when I do it with her.

I was my daddy's girl when I was little. But then when I got older, our bond loosened because we constantly butted heads. We were so much alike in our pride, stubbornness, and selfishness that, by the time I got in college, I thought there was no way that I could ever be as close as I was to my daddy as I was then. But the Lord, time, forgiveness, and the birth of my daughter has brought us close again like we were in our special time of push-ups on daddy's back.

Funny enough... those two principles my dad taught me about having "The Eye of the Tiger" mindset and "All You Gotta Do is Ask" philosophy, stuck with me even when we weren't so close. It helped me from everything from school to relationships. Even today just playing the song helps me focus whenever I need to get something done. Physically, Emotionally, Mentally, and Spiritually, it all applies. They have inspired me to be persistent. To be tenacious. To be a survivor. To never give up. And to ask until you get it.

Thanks, Dad for making the time to show me that I was the most important thing in your life. Thank you for "making memories" with us. Thank you for setting the example for us that it pays to work hard and persevere. But most of all, thank you for always pointing us to Jesus.

I Love You!

Vanessa