Love: My lovely and amazing father, Terence Evans, aka T, who passed away quite suddenly a year ago this Friday. I've got a pretty big hole in my life and my heart now, and am only just beginning to comprehend the finality of the loss. The best way to fill the void is to remember, so I love it when my friends who knew him bring T up, and the old stories and memories are trotted out.
Like: The orange movie theater marquee letter I bought on etsy and keep in our kitchen as a reminder of the great man.
Discovery: My Sopranos- and Green Bay Packers-loving guy's-guy of a dad had a softer side. One compelling piece of evidence: his deep love of David Lean's epic romance-cum-historical drama Dr. Zhivago. (T might have appreciated The Selby's recent train trip from Paris to Shanghai on behalf of Louis Vuitton, which involved many days in Russia, a more glamourous version of the horrible train ride Zhivago and his family take as they flee Moscow for a cottage in the Urals.)
The Selby Part 1 The Selby Part 2
Obsession: T was a Democrat through and through, but he couldn't help but find constant amusement in Howard Dean's self-destructive 2004 Iowa Caucus election night speech. Dad bought a novelty "Scream the Dream" bottle opener which plays the meltdown speech every. single. time. you. open. a. bottle. The opener, still going strong, is my fondest inheritance and makes me smile whenever I use it.
Complaint: With T gone, and my mom moved to Seattle, where my sister lives, I miss Milwaukee. It's strange to no longer have a place or family to return to in the city you grew up in and visited regularly, for decades.
When will I ever see its (modest) skyline and lovely lakefront?
When will I walk through Lake Park then down to the lakefront, looking at all the big houses on Terrace, Wahl and Lake Drive along the way?
When will I catch a movie at The Oriental Theater? Bowl and drink next door at Landmark with Admiral Ackbar (David) and Big Sal (Erich)?
Count mullets and mesh shirts in the crowd at Summerfest?
Eat greasy but delicious Mexican at Conejitos or a burger and frozen custard at Kopps?
Go to that antiques store I liked in the Third Ward?
Spend an afternoon at my beloved Milwaukee Public Museum amidst the dioramas?
Milwaukee, I sure hope I don't lose you too.
