one for the books

yesterday my time and conversation with my dad was one for the books. there have been plenty of those. if it seems like i write about my dad a lot, there are probably a lot of reasons, but one of them is that i just want to remember everything he says.

we talked about sex for awhile. i decided that everyone should experience a sex talk with my dad because oh my goodness, it will make you laugh. actually no way should everyone experience that, probably very few could handle it, but i'm glad i can talk about anything with my dad. i feel like most people my age (any age?) would never ever even consider talking about sex with their parents.

one of the internet-appropriate things (HA.) he said was that sex really isn't everything. someone once told him it is the icing on the cake. i said what did he mean by that and my dad said he never explained it. i told him i think it means you need a good cake, otherwise the icing won't be any good and eating it will only make you sick. that you could be out having sex with all sorts of people but it won't be good unless you're married and committed to that one person. and my dad said, "i think you hit the nail on the head chelsea."

food analogies work well for us. obviously if you love eating icing by itself this metaphor falls apart immediately. so don't think about it too much - this chat was more laughter than profundity. it might as well be noted that the "icing on the cake" comment was at the tail end of our conversation too - almost the icing on the cake of our conversation if you will. HA.

my dad's favorite movie of all time is "gone with the wind." one of my favorite quotes from that movie is when rhett tells scarlett, "you should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how."

apparently people said that pappy shank looked like clark gable. i can see it. i will try to find an old picture to post of him so you can too. clark gable also reminds me of george clooney and sometimes my dad resembles him. there are just a lot of handsome men in my family line, what can i say.

dad informed me that clark gable died when he was 59 - the same age that pappy shank was when he had his first heart attack. clark gable died in early november and so did pappy. they thought clark gable was recovering, he had even begun smoking in his hospital bed. unfortunately for pappy i don't think he was allowed to smoke in the hospital before he died. he did get his beloved pepsi though - the first thing he scribbled on a piece of paper to grandma after surgery. or maybe smokes was first, i forget.

i love grandma and grandpa shank so much. i love that unlike clark gable who had three wives and children to a random accumulation of women ... pappy was married to grandma for well over fifty years, and that even in his absence grandma has never stopped talking about and loving him.

their relationship never put me under the illusion that marriage was easy. not that i ever heard them fight or complain, but pappy just would have been a very difficult person to live with. but they really loved each other. watching them taught me that marriage is worth it, and that there is nothing more valuable than family and the love you pass on to the generations to follow when you choose to love your spouse.