Lunch with My Dad

June 16, 2013

20130616-074531.jpg I bet you never thought you would see a Whopper with cheese and a side of fries on my daily post. Truth is, I can’t type that word or see that image and not think of my father, Kennedy Watson. Even though he died 25+ years ago, there has not been a single day since that I have not thought of him in some way. Food and the love of food played an important part in his life. Some of my fondest memories are based around his love of the meal. The moment I turned 16 my parents gave me a car. They both had driven me around so much to all the tennis lessons and tournaments, I think the car was more a gift to them as it released them of having to shuttle me around. His office was not far from my high school, so one of the first things I did after I got the car was to pick up his favorite lunch of a Whopper with fries. We sat and had lunch at his desk, talking away as we ate. Being the youngest of 4, I spent quite a bit of time alone with my parents, as my siblings had all moved out by the time I was 12. Add to that all the travel I did playing in tournaments around the country, my Dad accompanying me to many of them–we talked about most everything and we laughed together. His sense of humor is one of the things I miss most. We really liked the time we got to be together. I not only loved my Dad, I really liked him. Looking back on it all now, I feel so lucky to have been able to spend all that quality time with him when I was younger, because I was not able to in my adulthood. I look back so fondly on those Whopper lunches that became a ritual several times a month until I went off to college. A few times a year when I am out & about running errands, I will stop and get a Whopper lunch and just sit in the car and remember those times and remember him–his smart wit, his huge heart, and just his unique way of being. Then later that day when Ted asks me what I did for lunch, I say I had lunch with my Dad, and he knows just where & what I had.