The Family Vault

Story 4 — Pop, My Gentle Father

I suppose my earliest memories of my father are of him sitting in the den, in his arm chair in the evenings, with me cuddled between his legs, and him gently stroking my chest and belly with his fingertips. Before you get the idea that something was “weird,” it wasn’t. He was a loving father who was not afraid to express his love, and truly cherished all six of his children. I’d cuddle there with him as we watched The Carol Burnette Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, or Rowen and Martin’s Laugh-In.