2013-10-30 Monday - R.I.P. Tommy G. Meeks

My father has passed away.

Before I was a gleam in his eye...

"Rattler" - the dog that died saving me from a rattlesnake

The enduring gift of my father - teaching me to "fix things"

His Golden Age

Tommy G. Meeks

January 2, 1939 - September 30, 2013

                               

Memorable Sayings of My Father:

"What's this 'we' business cat-shit?"

"Every Day's a Holiday, Every Meal's a Feast"

"Cotton is down, to a quarter a pound, and I'm busted"

 

"Two Goods and A Better"

"Son-of-a-Bitch!"

"It was the government" (re: 9/11)

"I Suppose"

 
"No Worky, No Eaty"

Things My Father Loved:

Arkansas

A cold beer after a hard day's work, during summer

Country Music 

 

  Fixin things


Things My Father Enjoyed:

Pepsi

Fried Chicken

Black-eyed Peas and Fried Okra 

Cornbread

Licorice

Bologna Sandwiches

Fishing Greers Ferry Lake

The Tractor Supply Store

Wearing his fancy 3-piece suit at Christmas

Oaklawn Park Race Track (in Hot Springs)

Buying Lottery Tickets



My Father's Gifts:

His innate intelligence

Independence of thought

Self-educated

Mechanically gifted

His long-suffering in the face of incompetence

His Honesty

 

My favorite memory of the times I visited with him in his final years: When I could make a joke - that would bring cascades of laughter from deep within his belly.

 

In terms of physical appearance, I always thought that my father most resembled the actor Andy Griffith - during the time he played the character of Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, in The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968), and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968-1971).

[image source: Wikipedia.org]

 

 

There is much that resonates in my memory of my father - with the character of Al Bundy, in the television show, Married With  Children, which he greatly enjoyed watching.

A memory from my youth...sometime in the late 60s, sitting on the front steps of our house in the woods...a summer day...hot and sticky with sweat from clearing brush...

My dad offered me a sip of his beer (Budweiser). 

He asked if I liked it. 

My reply: "tastes like horse piss". 

 We never really ever understood each other. But, we were men - and the menfolk don't talk about their feelings in my family. 

 

 2026-05-26 Tuesday:  

My mother passed away this past Sunday.  

After my father passed away in September 2013, it took some time for me to be able to grieve for him. A few years later, while I was living in downtown Seattle - it was a rainy Sunday, the weather was cool - I was sitting outside a Starbucks, enjoying the gentle feeling of the rain...and a feeling of grief for his loss welled up from within,and my tears finally flowed.