Sock Change

For Father's Day

 

I have this memory from when I was a little girl of my dad coming home from work. He had a routine. After coming through the back door, he'd grab a chair from the dining table and sit down to unlace his boots, caked with mud or laced with dust, depending on the trenches he'd been digging in and whether the pipes in them were whole or broken. Next, he would stand and remove his belt so he could take all the gadgets off of it (cell phone, radio, pager, leatherman, and keys). Finally, he would empty his pockets. After chap stick, random bits of paper and wrappers, any change he'd accumulated throughout the day would come out. If I wasn't at the door when he came home and he couldn't give me the pennies and dimes right then, I found the piles of change on my dresser. I never really spent any of it. It just all went into a piggy bank. After several years, I had too much to fit into the bank, so I transferred it to some gold, knee-length socks my mom had given me for my birthday (Normally, I would have worn them proudly, but the gold ones had thread in them that made them too itchy). The socks stayed at the bottom of my closet through high school and were left there when I left for college. 

My dad has a new job now. I'm sure he still brings home spare change, but I'm not sure what he does with it. I'll forever be grateful that he was willing to jump down in those trenches to provide for our family. I'll always love the home that he built with my mom and older brothers. I'll never forget the sacrifices he made to be a wonderful husband and father in our family. 

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After Tom and I were married, we still went on lots of dates. We soon realized that going out to eat wasn't always affordable and going to see the latest movies was expensive too. We resorted to walks, visits with friends, and hitting up the cheap or free entertainment on campus when we had time away from homework.

On a visit home, my mom reminded me of the gold socks sitting on the floor in my closet. I took it with us back to school and it sat on the floor of our apartment instead. Not long after that, our local grocery store expanded and added self-checkout stands, which accepted quarters, dimes, nickels, and even pennies! Dating revolution! Now, one of our favorite things to do is head to Broulim's late at night and buy a carton of ice cream, popcorn, or Popsicles with change, then top it off with a red box movie to watch on the laptop.

I don't know if Dad knew all of his little "contributions" would make much of a difference to me, but I'm reminded of home every time we get to go on a "sock date".

Happy Father's Day!