Running, tube socks, and a mustache.
Those are the images burned into my memory when I think of what my father was like while I was growing up. You know those killer seventies mustaches? That was my dad, the original hipster. Big glasses, mustache, and combed-back hair, he was what cool was before we’d even heard of Starbucks or Instagram.
In elementary school, I mowed the lawn in my dad’s old Chuck Taylors. They were off-white and originally high tops that he had cut to make low tops (again, how cool is that?). I wish every day that I had thought to keep them…and not mow the grass in them. On my wish list right now is a pair of crisp, white Chucks. Dang it.
Growing up, if you couldn’t find Dad you knew he was probably out running. He was forever taking off on a run, sometimes followed by my sister and I on our Huffys, but more times than not, just running for miles and miles by himself. I didn’t understand that love or drive, I hated running in basketball practice and would avoid it if I could. In middle school, my sister and I wanted Nike running shoes for our back-to-school shoe purchase. My dad thought it was ridiculous that we would want running shoes but we didn’t actually run. So we had to promise to start running if he was going to buy us those shoes.
We ran for about a week and gave up.
Running is hard and boring and mentally draining. I wasn’t strong enough and didn’t care enough to run. So I’m sure it completely surprised him when I started running last year and ran my first half marathon in May. He helped me train and coached me, encouraging me along the road of never-ending miles. And then I got to run my second half marathon with him. It was like those middle school running shoes finally clicked. Just twenty years later.
I have never seen my father without his mustache. If I pulled into my parent’s house today for Father’s day brunch and my father’s mustache was gone, I’m not sure I would even recognize him. I’ve seen his high school baseball pictures, he even had a mustache in high school. That’s a good almost forty years with a mustache! That’s some dedication right there.
For the longest time, I didn’t even know what my father’s top teeth looked like. The mustache was in charge so the teeth got lost in the mix. But recently, I noticed that my dad does, in fact, have top teeth. Which is good for chewing and brushing and a bunch of other things that our teeth are good for. So that’s nice. It also makes it better for when I enter the Power Dad’s Smile Everyday Sweepstakes that Oral-B is hosting at Target. They’re giving away over $1,000 in prizes! To enter, just share a photo of you and your Dad on Twitter or Instagram using #oralbsweeps between June 2 and June 15. You could win the Father’s Day Power Bundle which includes the Oral-B Black ProfessionalCare 1000 Rechargeable Toothbrush, the Braun Series 7 760 shaver and a $250 Target GiftCard! You know you’re bragging about your dad all over social media today, so why not win some prizes while you’re at it?
What memories stick out to you when you think about growing up with your dad? If I had the time, I could probably write a whole book about growing up as Rick’s daughter but I’ll spare you the details right now. Let’s just say I wouldn’t change it for the world. Happy Father’s day, friends!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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