"Linda was supposed to be Toby"

       That little girl in the image above was intended to be a little boy fishing next to his dad. Instead, it's me. It's all good. My parents had two children, a son being the oldest and a daughter. They were four years apart in age. Without getting too personal, my dad had a difficult time bonding with my older brother. Freddie cried a lot and my mom was there to comfort him (so I'm told). I don't think he played any sports or had much interest in them as a kid. In high school, Freddie got a drum set and liked to jam with his friends. He drove a nice black GTO. But, he never made time for my dad. 

    Ten years after my sister was born, my dad told my mom that he wanted to have another son. He wanted a son that played baseball so he could be his biggest fan,  fish with him. watch sports with him, work with him...he wanted a son to be his pal. My mom agreed that they would try for another son. My dad said, "and his name will be Toby." (Now, I have no idea whatsoever where he came up with the name Toby).

    Back in those days (the olden days), there were no sonograms to reveal the sex of the baby. It was always a surprise. Long story short one late October night, I was born. 

    The whole point of this little story is that sometimes we don't get exactly what we want or pray for, but sometimes we get just what we need. I was extremely close to my dad. He was my hero and my best pal. 

He taught me to fish and I loved every minute of it. He even got me up at 4:30am one morning to go frogging. Yes, we went to some swampy place South of Gilroy and went frogging. Our neighbor Jack was my dad's fishing buddy. He had two sons and the five of us went together on this frogging adventure. I wasn't present when my dad dismembered the frogs, but I do remember my mom frying the frog legs. They were delicious! We went on many fishing trips together. My dad was a journeyman welder by trade, but he could build and fix anything. I helped him build a fence on a few acres of property we had. I pulled weeds and mowed the lawns with him on Saturdays. I remember my little fingers hanging onto the back belt loops of his jeans while he mowed, while I followed. He had a pool built in our back yard and we swam together all the time. He would swim laps and I would do summersaults under water. He cheered me on at my softball games too. He taught me to change the tire on my first car and I can honestly tell you that I wasn't paying attention. Sorry, dad.

My dad got his Toby after all.

Dad, I miss you more than words can say.