Silver and Gold and my Dad

"Silver and gold, silver and gold .
Mean so much more when I see .
Silver and gold decorations.
On ev'ry Christmas tree"

That song was sung by Burl Ives in the Christmas special "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." As far back as I can remember, that song has always made me smile. My last name is also Ives so it fits nicely with this month's post.

Many years ago I was blessed with the very best set of parents anyone could hope for and Christmas was always a big event. Not big in terms of people, my family consisted of my parents, maternal grandmother and my dad's two aunts who raised him from a small child. It was always enough, we never needed anyone else.

Being an only child there were always too many presents for me but there was always one special one every year. There was always one present specially wrapped in silver paper with gold ribbons that I knew was for me from my dad. No one had anything to do with it; this was a dad's special gift to his little girl.

My dad was never a shopper. Usually he found out what he got everyone from my mother or when the gifts were opened. That's why this present was always so special to me. I found out years later he also got one for my mother he gave her on Christmas Eve but for years I believed it was all about me and it made me feel like the most important little girl in the world. He would take his annual trek to Neiman Marcus in White Plains and that's where the gift would come from.

Usually it was a piece of jewelry. Silver when I was young and as I got older, gold. When I was 16 the gift was a gold necklace, a choker with gold beads ranging in size from a pea to a cherry. It remains to this day the most special and beautiful piece of jewelry I own. I remember losing all my teen 'cool' when I opened it, running over to him and clinging to him the same way I did was I was small. Always in silver paper with gold ribbons.

I opened with that song because for as long as I can recall I've loved the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials. My dad always thought they were silly. I remember last year being at their house for Christmas and getting as giddy as I did as a child when Rudolph, the Miser Brothers and the Burgermeister Meisterburger came on. He laughed at me but he sat and watched them with me and on Christmas there was a silver box with gold ribbons under the tree. It was even more special as my father has been on oxygen for 2 years and it's not as easy as it used to be for him to move around.

As I write this, my wonderful beautiful and perfect father is lying in a medically induced coma in the hospital, he was rushed there on Tuesday. They don't know what's wrong, he can't breathe on his own at all and is on a respirator, no one can come up with a cause or diagnosis. I wasn't going to do this month's Exchange. I can hardly think let alone form coherent sentences others might want to read. Then I thought about the subject and what 'silver and gold' mean to me and I had to write this as a tribute to the most important man in my life. My thanks to Fishy Girl for letting me use her blog to share my dad with the Exchange.

I love you, dad. Come home and watch Rankin-Bass with me this year.

"Silver and gold, silver and gold .
Mean so much more when I see .
Silver and gold decorations .
On ev'ry Christmas tree"

WebKittyn is a diehard blogger and owner of an internet radio station. She is a devout daddy's girl and cat lover and blogs at WebKittyn Warbles, where you can find FishyGirl's post for this month's Blog Exchange.

Comments

[Soccer Mom in Denial]

As another daddy's girl, I cannot imagine how you are feeling. I hope your daddy gets home for Christmas.

And this piece was wonderfully coherent.

[Julie Pippert]

I am so sorry your father is so sick and that you don't have any answers why. Many thoughts for you and your family. And thanks for participating and sharing this sweet (and coherent) story.

Julie
Using My Words
http://theartfulflower.blogspot.com

[Jenn]

oh, I am so sorry - this is such a sweet post and I hope everything works out the best for you all.

[Alex Elliot]

I am so sorry. I can't even imagine what you must be going through right now. Your post was beautiful.

[Jennifer]

What do you mean you can't put together sentences? Your sentence structure was perfect.

It is very sad to know your father is in such a condition. It is terrible...I hope he will be better soon.

[Heather]

What a cool dad to do a special present every year.

Hope your dad is better very very soon.