Happy birthday, Dad
This Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017, marks the 86th birthday of my father, Louis Burl Houston. Seven months have passed since his death. The upcoming holidays will be the first for me and my siblings not to have Dad present.
His absence from the family festivities will be strange. I still expect to see him sitting in the kitchen urging us to eat “the best cookies I ever made.” Dad had a sweet tooth and the holidays provided opportunities to make his famous Aunt Bill’s Brown Candy, fudge, and eggnog. Sometimes he came upon a new recipe he had to try out on us, often without the greatest of results.
The television doesn’t blare near as loud now. Dad wasn’t much for sports but the news channels were always on, volume up high due to his hearing loss. Political news, I’m sure, contributed to his blood pressure problems and sleepless nights.
He always reminded us how his birth on Thanksgiving Eve in Eastland, Texas, disrupted his parents’ holiday plans. My first Thanksgiving, at age 10 months, was spent with Dad’s parents. I even have a photo taken of the event. Two months later my grandfather, Burl Houston, would be killed in an auto accident. He was only 53.
Dad enjoyed the holidays but as the family grew larger with marriages and grandchildren he would become anxious with so many in the small house. Once I had my house built we tried to have the gatherings there so we could spread out and relax. Dad always found a chair in the living room away from all the turmoil of dinner preparation. Invariably, he would capture the attention of any first-time attendee and proceed to regale that person with stories and opinions we had heard year after year. The rest of us viewed it as an initiation, especially for anyone thinking of marrying into the family.
This Thanksgiving, we will tell stories of Dad and his misadventures of past holiday seasons. There will be laughter and tears. An empty chair will be present at the head of the table next to my mother’s seat because we cannot bear the thought of his not being present. And he really is there with us because we see some part of him in each of his children and grandchildren. We make notice when we say something that he always said, or perform some mannerism that was uniquely his.
So, if you knew my father or enjoyed his writing, take a moment this Saturday to think of him.
Happy birthday, Dad.
— Devin Houston is the president/CEO of Houston Enzymes. Send comments or questions to devin.houston@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.