Saturday, August 6, 2016

Dad, i.m.

My dad, James Leddy, died a year ago today. Last night I dozed while watching the news and dreamed that he was there watching, wearing a plaid short-sleeved shirt. I’ll listen to some of his records today (as I do most days), call my mom (as I do every day), and have a piece of dark chocolate (his favorite). He was a good man, and he’s never out of mind, or heart.

Here is what I wrote about my dad last August.

comments: 9

The Crow said...

If I lived next door to you, I'd come over to give you a hug. I'll just have to write this instead.

Michael Leddy said...

And we could listen to Mel Tormé! Thank you, Martha. :)

The Subliminal Mr Dunn said...

Hello, Michael. A thought for your father, and for Mel Tormé. The man with perfect pitch.

Michael Leddy said...

Thank you, Barnaby.

Fresca said...

That's nice he showed up like that, and I love how dreams supply details such as the plaid short-sleeved shirt---I assume that's correct for your dad?

Fresca said...

Regarding something else, I was reading about hallucinations people have of dead people--turns out it's very common--Oliver Sacks included a section on it in his book _Hallucinations_
and I was struck by the clothing details in this one--reminded me of your father's shirt--it's sweet to me how our brains supply these details:

"A friend of Sacks named Ray tells the author of his experience just days after the death of his father, when he awoke in the middle of the night and saw a vision of him sitting on the corner of his bed, wearing his khaki slacks and a tan polo shirt.
Ray continued: "He sat there for a moment and then said — did he speak or just convey the thought? — 'Everything is all right.'""
via:
www.nextavenue.org/why-loved-ones-hallucinations-may-be-good/

Michael Leddy said...

Very interesting! That’s an Oliver Sacks book I’ll have to get.

Now I’m thinking about the scenes in Homer and Virgil of seeing the dead.

Frex said...

"Homer, wearing tan slacks and a plaid shirt, sat on Virgil's bed..."

Michael Leddy said...

Virgil wore that same style, just half size.