My Dad the Hero, A Father's Day Message

MY DAD THE HERO
A “Roy”al Father


It’s time to write
about the first man
who inspired me,
my father,
Roy Thorson
He’s definitely a hero.

It’s far more challenging to
write a story about one of your parents.
They’ve known you since you were in diapers and
that’s pretty humbling.

But they’ve done their best to give YOU their best.
For that gift, we, in fact, owe our very lives to them.
That, in all its imperfection, is a pretty big thing
to be thankful for.

My father has an amazing sense of humor and a unique
ability to come up with sayings out of the blue.
I’m sure his influence didn’t hurt my writing or
speaking career.

My Dad worked at a Ford station, first in service.
Later he sold cars. There was a big sign on the overhead door.
The guys added a “d” at the end of “tire” to see if anyone
would notice. It now read “Felker’s Tired Service.”

Girls used to come down and hang around the station.
Back in those days it was safe to do so. Well, maybe not
with my Father around! Dad would ask the girls if they
wanted to ride on the hoist. The girls thought that was
cool so they agreed. Dad put the girls on the hoist and
raised it up. Then Dad and the other guys would walk out
like they were going to wait on cars and leave the girls
there. Not forever of course. Just enough time to get the
girls scared or mad. It worked.

Roy loves people, which made him perfect for sales and
later advertising. When he started out, he had printed
on the back of his business cards sayings like,
“Thanks for being a customer of mine, in the year of ’59.”

Dad always made me feel part of the conversation whenever
I was in a room full of adults. That trust in me, helped
me develop confidence in talking to people - another
important trait in doing business and documentary work.
Dad always believed in me and knew I could succeed. If I
ever forgot, a call to him would remind me.

Two days after President Reagan died, I unexpectedly wrote
the song called Reagan’s Ride, I called Dad and told him
I wrote a song about Reagan and asked if I could read him
the song. It touched him emotionally. Dad told me to do
something about the song and he said firmly, “Do it now.”

Later my Mother told me that Dad came over to tell her about
it. He was so choked up about the song, he could hardly speak.
Finally he got out the words, “Terri wrote a song for President
Reagan.” Dad knew what that song meant. It meant that I had
burst through. I was on my way to success. Five days later,
I had my first public performance of that song at the Nixon
Presidential Library. The song is not about politics. It’s a
bout the amazing bond Reagan shared with his beloved Nancy.

When my Dad had a stroke, my brother, Pat called him up to
ask him a few questions. “What comes after the letter 5?”
Pat asked. Dad said, “Everything but 1,2,3 and 4.
Pat told Dad, “You’re fine.”

But most of all, my Father is famous for his one-liners that
can leave you groaning, chuckling, or holding your belly,
because your stomach hurts so much from laughing.

These one-liners I call “Royisms.”
Let me share just a few with you.

Royisms

• When I told Dad that someone had stolen the bells from the Santa
Isabella Mission in California, Dad said,
“It must have been some ding-a-ling.”

• I’d taken a trip to England. Dad asked how far ahead in time
they were.“ They are 8 hours ahead,” I told him.
“Well, they should be,” he replied.
“They were discovered before we were.”

• Dad went to work one day not feeling quite well. Someone said,
“Roy, you look half-dead.” Dad retorted.
“Well I am! I’m 60… going on 120.”

• “75% of us is water. In some of us it’s 35% and the rest is
something else.”

• Dad was at his doctor’s office. A little boy was looking at the
aquarium and wanted to know which one was the catfish. Dad told
the little boy the catfish was the one with four legs.

• Mom and Dad put some artificial flowers in their yard but
Dad thought about it and said, “I think it’d be better to put
in some artificial snails.”

Dad’s life wasn’t all apple pie and roses, (although he did
marry Rosita, the little rose.) He fell overboard while in the
navy and almost drown. He was fired for refusing to do business
unethically. And later in his career, the company he worked for
shut down shortly before his retirement. He had to start over,
which he did. That takes a lot of character.
That took someone like my Father.

In my Hero column I write about Life Lessons. Dad’s taught me many.

Roy’s Life Lessons
…And Fatherly Advice

1. Be Creative
My father is a creative person. How else do you come up with things
like the line about some Ding-a-ling?

2. Love Nature
Dad taught me to love nature. He talks to squirrels and chipmunks.
He whistles to the birds. And you should see his backyard!

3. Be Who You Are
My mom calls my Dad a “stubborn” Norwegian. Now there’s some
good in that. The good side of stubbornness is persistence. I probably
would’ve given up long ago on the enormous challenges I’ve had in my
life without inheriting some of that. Dad knows. Nobody can be YOU,
better than you can. Revel in it.

4. When the Situation Gets Tense, You Get “Cool”
Dad was uptown one evening after work when two guys were about
to get into a fight. Dad stepped in the middle, sort of acting as a
referee to the men about to fight. Dad said he tries to give one a
little more confidence and deflates the anger of the other. “If they
could only see the strength of the two of them and the power they
would have together.” Pretty good advice when ever there is a disagreement.

5. When You’re Stuck Inside, Dream and Plan
Dad has to do this every Wisconsin winter. He has so many projects,
that when spring does finally sprung, he’s busy the whole summer.

6. You Do What You Can, Then Let Go
When Dad was working very hard selling cars, he went out to the
farmer’s homes. While they milked cows, he talked to them about
new cars. He talked to client after client. He phoned. Still he had no
sales. He’d done everything he could think of. So he just put his feet
up on his desk and relaxed for a few days. Then 7-10 people came in and
bought cars all the same evening. Dad was there till midnight selling
from the seeds he planted earlier.

7. When You Go Overboard, It Can Get Pretty Scary
In anything in life, if we go overboard, it can take us under. Dad got
the chance to do that in the Navy, while painting the sides of the ship.
He and his friend suddenly found themselves head over heels, on the
way down into the deep blue waters. Their youth and a quick thinking
crew saved them. Even though this was an accident, try not to go
overboard in the first place.

8. It’s the First Child That Raises the Parents
That’s what Dad told me. He really believed that the oldest has to
raise the parents and transform them into parents. Now this wasn’t a
lesson I wanted to have, but I found it’s probably true having my own
daughter be so dog-gone smart and “train” me to be her mother.
(She must be another stubborn Norwegian.) Actually parents learn from
all their children, if they're smart and Dad is.

To a man that I admire, respect, and deeply love, thank you Dad,
for giving this daughter life in your family. Looking forward to
many more one-liners and many more days to wish you,
“Happy Father’s Day.”

Lots of love,

Terri Marie