's motd Sunday June 20, 2010 - Father's Day

[Guest guest]

MY SMART DAD!

Sunday, 20 June 2010

My father was 50 year-old when I was born. He'd lived quite an adventurous life before marrying my mother, rather late in his life. He was a Merchant Marine and served in World War II. My father was also a very educated man and knew a lot about life. As I was growing up, he shared with my brother and I all of the things he'd learned in life here on this earth.

He was also an avid reader and read 4-5 books...a week! The headboard above his bed was a bookshelf with about five shelves of books, all of them filled. (It looked like his little library.) He loved doing crossword puzzles in the newspaper and read the New Orleans Times Picayune cover-to-cover everyday. He loved listening to music on the radio and never missed the evening news on television.I'm telling you, my father knew a lot and could talk about anything. (He would've made a great contestant on Jeopardy!) And when he talked, I'd listen intently because I'd always learn something new from him.Everybody in the French Quarter knew him. When we walked around the Quarter together, so many people would come up and say hello to us. My father would not only know everyone's names but he knew a little something about each person he'd said hello to.

When I came home from school everyday, I'd make myself a sandwich first. (Of course!) Then I'd get started on my homework. If I ever had a problem with my one of my subjects, I'd go to my dad for help. He'd sit with me until I got the right answer. It was so cute the way he'd sometimes give me little clues to help me figure out those answers. He really made learning interesting.My father shared so much of his knowledge with me. He talked to me about architecture, history and about his travels to different parts of the world. He loved art and I loved when he took me to visit an art gallery. And one summer, I even took art classes, learning to paint and draw.And now...let's talk about the food. I have to say that my father was one of the best cooks in New Orleans. I mean it! I'm telling you, he could go into a restaurant, order a dish and, after eating it, could actually duplicate the dish at home he'd been served in the restaurant. He could prepare any kind of food. He'd collected cookbooks for years and our kitchen was filled with them.While he was in the kitchen cooking and I was there, my father would always talk to me about what he was preparing. (I was like his own little private audience as he was doing a cooking show on TV.) One of the proudest days of my life was when my father joined me on The Show back in 1981. There we were, the two of us, on the show's kitchen set, preparing a fabulous New Orleans recipe together. Oh...how fun that was!

As I write this message, I'm staring at a few old photos of my dad. In one of them, he's only five years-old and he's so adorable! There's another photo here of him and my Mom on Christmas Day, 1946. And oh, there's one more. It's a photo of my dad wearing his World War II uniform.I have to tell you, there's not a day that goes by in my life where I don't think about my father, Leonard .Please wish your own father a Happy Father's Day from me. And if your dad is now in Heaven, don't worry, my father's there with him preparing a scrumptious Father's Day meal for all of the dads!Love,