A Cactus Needle Sticking in My Dad’s Ass Made Him More Relatable
A Father’s Day tribute to my dad
I’d never heard my dad say a curse word, not even a single shit, fuck, or damn, until my 12- and 13-year-old youth soccer team was taking a team photo before a tournament.
My dad was one of the coaches for our team.
He sat next to a catholic priest and right before everyone said “cheese” my dad blurted out, “What the HELL is sticking in my ASS?”
The photo was taken before a state tournament game in Kentucky, and my dad arranged for us to stay overnight at a Catholic retreat center.
Hence, the catholic priest in the photo.
When we got home, my mom asked me what was the highlight of the trip at the dinner table, and I told her and my brother what my dad said during the team photo.
My dad was a vice president of a university.
He was a political scientist and the author of several books on Southeast Asia.
He was a Rhodes Scholar who studied at Oxford University in England.
He subscribed to like six newspapers from the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and Wall Street Journal and read each from the front cover to the back page.
