Dads' words of wisdom

On Father's Day this year, the Hero and I honored our fathers by remembering some of the many words of wisdom they passed along while we were growing up. Things that helped us mature, like "Eat your carrots. They'll put hair on your chest."

This was uttered -- numerous times -- by MY father, not the Hero's, which makes one wonder what he was thinking. It was probably, "It wasn't MY idea to have four daughters and one son."

The Hero's memories of his father's sayings mostly seem to revolve around things that were not altogether appropriate for young children, which perhaps explains why he remembers them vividly.

The Hero's father also enjoyed quoting poetry, particularly on evenings the family had some variety of beans for dinner. I believe one of his father's favorites, later recited by his mother as well, included the words "magical fruit" and "toot," among others.

My father was fond of using words from other languages. He was always a bit fuzzy about WHICH language any of the words was from, and this knowledge has apparently been lost to mankind with his passing. "Weecha" was one such word, used mostly during our numerous family road trips and roughly translating to "Look!" This indicated some wondrous natural sight that we should gaze upon out the car window, such as a beautiful valley view or a sunset. Or it indicated that my father wanted our attention diverted while he took the last peanut butter cookie.

A Female Relative has endeavored, since my father's passing, to ascertain where "weecha" came from. Was it Romanian, which his mother spoke? German, his father's language?

My mother's opinion was that "he made it up."

My family spent a great deal of time in the car, and many of my father's sayings originated there. When we would cross a state line, he would yell, "We are, you aren't!" to indicate that split second when the passengers in the front seat had arrived in the new state, but those in the back had not. He was very competitive, my father, and any front passengers -- he was always one of them -- WOULD make it into the new state first.

It makes me wonder if, when he crossed into Heaven, he said, "We're here -- you come too!" And -- this I'm sure of --  "Weecha!"