A Conversation With Dad

Dad and I were watching the movie Twister today. The one about the storm chasers. Helen Hunt is in it.

For some reason, Dad was "recognizing" Helen Hunt. He couldn't remember her name, but he "knew" her. I told him who she was.

"That's Helen Hunt," I said.

"Oh, I know that." He replied. I watched him. He kept studying the TV.

"I know who that is but I can't think of her name," He said, again.

"That's Helen Hunt, Dad," I told him, again, trying to hold back a giggle.

"Oh, I know that." He kept watching the movie intently. I could see that he was trying to "place" her again.

We kept watching the movie. When it was over the credits started rolling.

"Helen Hunt," he said. "That's who she is. She used to live next door to us up in Algona, when I was a kid." He was so serious. My 87 year old father, truly thought that he had lived next door to Helen Hunt when he was a kid. Again, I held back a giggle, but I had to text my friends Dawn and Kelley to let them know that my dad rubbed elbows with a celebrity as a kid.

With the movie over, Dad started talking about a tornado that hit Okaboji when he was a kid.

"They found a cabinet out that had been blown out of a house. Inside...." he got an all knowing look on his face, "inside, they found a dozen eggs, and not a one broke! And that tornado taught people something that they didn't know before," he continued. "People used to believe that tornados wouldn't cross water, but this one did!" He looked so knowledgable about this.

He looked away from me. He turned back, with his all knowing face again. "There was a tornado that hit Okaboji, and after it was over," he got very serious, "they found a kitchen cabinet with a dozen eggs in it. Not a one was broken!" He got up to go to the bathroom.

Now, I know the tornado stories are true, he told us kids about them when we were little. Helen Hunt.... of course not. Although, her grandmother lived in Atlantic, Iowa in 1920, I found out on Google today. She would have been about eight years older than my dad.

Dad came walking out of the bathroom. "There was a tornado in Okaboji once. After it was over, they found a kitchen cabinet, with a dozen eggs in it......"