Sunday, August 6, 2023

Dad, i.m.

My dad, James Leddy, died eight years ago today.

He showed up in a dream in July, a couple of days before what would have been his ninety-fifth birthday. He was in a van in our garage, about to back out. I was in the back seat. He asked, apropos of nothing, what “6A” meant.

I realized when I woke up that “6A” must mean August 6.

My dad appears in many OCA posts. Here’s a post with what I wrote after his death.

comments: 8

Frex said...

Is that 6A across or down?

Some obit! Some dad! You are a good designated talker.

Frex = Fresca

Frex said...

P.S. Is that post technically an "obituary" though? I think I used the wrong word. Eulogy? Not sure... "Blog post I wrote about my father after his death" is good.

Michael Leddy said...

6A: Strange that I didn’t think of the crossword meaning.

Good question about what it is. I would just call it words for the occasion. (I don’t like the word “eulogy” — too many associations with death, lol). I’m going to change it to just say “what I wrote.” It’s lightly revised from what I wrote and read aloud.

Tororo said...

My dad shows up in the middle of night, at least every other week, sometimes more often, since he passed away seventeen years ago. In these dreams, he's always cheerful and busy with something. It's comforting to read that your dad does the same. Thanks to all dads that never give up being dads.

Michael Leddy said...

“Dads that never give up being dads”: what a beautiful way to think about it. : )

Fresca said...

I thought of your dad when I watching “Turn Every Page”- the contrast with both editors and LBJ suffering bad dads.
They didn’t mention Robert Moses’s though.

Michael Leddy said...

That's definitely in the movie — Caro’s first book.

Michael Leddy said...

Oops — you were referring to Moses’s father.