Charles E. Clauss, Sr.

I titled this post because of my dad....that's his name....My dad passed away on April 9, 2006. The first 2 years, it was hard for me thinking about my dad no longer being with us. I missed him terribly. The last year, it's been easier, as I realized dying is a part of life. We all must face it at some point. My dad use to always say that I was my mom born all over again. I am in many ways just like my mom, but there are some ways I am soooooo my dad. He was very organized. I remember when my sister was planning her wedding, my dad, mom, sister and future brother-in-law went to look at the restaurant they were planning to hold the reception. When they got home that night, my dad started planning the guest list. It was a year before the wedding. That's me. I'm very organized. I do fly by the seat of my pants some times, but I believe in the saying "everything in it's place and a place for everything." The other night I was watching NCIS. It was a repeat about a WWII veteran who thought he had killed his best friend. During the episode, it showed him dancing with Kate (for those of you who are NCIS fans, you know who Kate is) to an old song. As I watched, I remember joking with my dad about stepping on his toes while we were dancing. You see, my dad loved to dance. At every wedding or special occasion my dad would dance with each of his daughters (there are 3 of us). We'd always joke about how we'd step on his feet. He was such a good dancer and we stunk!!!! Actually, he would trick us just to tease us. I couldn't fox trot to save my life. Whenever a wedding was in the future, we all joked that we'd have to dance with daddy and step on his feet. Yet, we all looked forward to that special moment of the night when we got to dance with daddy. No matter what or where, he'd find us to dance with us just once. The most precious moment I have is a picture of me and dad dancing at my wedding. The last wedding I went to (my cousin Amanda's) was bittersweet because dad couldn't come. He was too ill to attend. I didn't get the opportunity to dance with him, and I miss it to this day. What I wouldn't give to dance with my dad one last time.....