In this case, "O" refers to my dad, Oscar. My dad was a character. He smiled a lot, had an amazing sense of humor and made friends wherever he went. This was a man who always and I mean always had a joke to tell. Sometimes they were funny and sometimes they were horrible; yet the recipients always laughed, because he did. That's simply what people did around my father.
And then there were his clothes. I don't know where he found most of them. The frightening fact is that he paid big bucks for these. They served to further define his sense of humor; his sense of optimism; his sense of life.
This past Christmas, my 15 y.o. son received a very special gift:
This is a quilt that was sewn together using remnants of my father's wardrobe of "casual clothes." Look closely and you will see strips of his yellow and blue seersucker shirts, as well as his multi-vivid-colored calico print ones. There are the anchor embroidered summer pants, the dog stitched corduroy winter slacks and the lobster embroidered shorts; just to point out a few. What brings back the greatest memories are the Scotch plaid shirts that were always worn throughout the Christmas holidays.
Can you imagine being a teenager and having him as YOUR Dad? Just think of the total and utter humiliation when friends came over; especially boys. And OMG, when I ran into people I knew, and those I didn't, and here he was, my dad, dressed like THAT??? What's funny is that, thinking back, I don't think anyone really saw them as weird; not on him.
He used to say he liked to be "gay," long before and then even when that adjective took on a different meaning.
There is not a single strip of fabric that doesn't remind me of him. What a lovely gift to my son...and to me.
I leave you with a collage of the wild, wacky, colorful, "Oscar-like" clothing bits...





















