Today would be my daddy's birthday. I don't often think about the basic things like my families birthdays, especially, when my parents haven't been around for quite some time now... but today I looked at the calendar and remembered my daddy.
My dad Morris Ivan Wright was born on March 4th 1920, in Idaho. He was raised on a farm, and they ran sheep, up Taylor mountain, east of Idaho Falls. He attended Rick's College in Rexburg, ID, and joined the church there. He got his teaching degree, and taught high school science and math at Idaho Falls High School. 
He liked music and was always humming a tune or singing silly, made up songs. He liked to dance, and was a really good at calling Square Dances - which then meant he didn't get to dance all that much if he was calling the dance.
My dad had a funny sense of humor, and was always trying to play jokes/tricks on people. He was such a hard worker. He always gave 150% in all that he did. He valued hard work and definitely showed his love and care for his family by working hard to provide for us.
My daddy was not afraid to show his feelings. He would give hugs and tell you he loved you pretty freely. He would shed a tear and not feel ashamed of that at all.
He loved his family and the rich history they had in the Eastern Idaho area. He always knew someone from his past whenever and where ever we would go around town. He would talk of the old days and attending school at the little school house out in Taylor, and of the farmers and farms he grew up around. I wish I had more of that history written down so that I could go back and read it for myself, now that I'm old enough to appreciate it, and for my children as they grow up.
It is hard to describe my dad... I used to watch the t.v. show In the Heat of the Night, with Carroll O'Connor. I liked that Character, he played. He was kind of a cuddly teddy bear of a man in that show, and for some reason I like to think of my dad like that character. He knew what was right and wrong, and he worked to do right, and to help others.
My dad was the youngest of 8 children. He had 5 brothers, and one older sister that lived. The baby just before him was the 2nd daughter, but she died at 3 months old. His brother Mark was 4 yrs older than him, and was the next closest in age, died in a farm accident at the age of 23. So, my daddy was the baby of the family. He went off to college, and eventually was drafted into the Army at the end of World War II and served in the Philippines. He however lived back at home helping out on the farm in the midst of his other life.
He eventually met and married my mom, who had been married and had three small boys. He raised them as if they were his own, and then I was born to them, the first daughter, for my mom, and the first baby of my dad. 4 yrs later I had another brother born to my parents as well.
Some of the fun things I remember my dad doing was, he'd sing songs all the time and dance around the house. He loved the song Jingle Bell Rock, and would dance all around the house when it came on the radio. One year he had this red overall suit from working out in the garage... I remember he found this round little white bathroom rug and put it on around his ears, and pretended to be Santa clause. I'm sure I was embarrassed... as I was a teenager, but I look back at it now and it was pretty funny. I have a picture of my daddy dressed up for Halloween so that I could go trick or treating. He put on one of my mom's dresses, and wore one of her wigs, and he went around the neighborhood just to take me out for the night. What a sweetheart he was to do that for me!
One of the last memories I have of my daddy was when I was living in NY, and I gave Bill the phone number at home, and Bill called to ask my daddy if he could marry me. He talked to Bill for a bit and then asked to talk to me. I got on the phone and my sweet daddy was having a little going away party with a bunch of the neighbors at the house... I could hear them all in the background and they shared my happy news with my dad and me through the phone, across the miles. He was moving back to Calif, to go back to work since he still had two kids to raise (me and my younger brother) and support. (His later years were spent (most of my life time) working for the US Dept. of Agriculture, as a Customs inspector at the Los Angeles Int. Airport. He had to check peoples bags, and what not to keep people from bringing produce or foods in from other countries.) He always worked so hard, one day, just 5 weeks after the day I got engaged officially, my daddy did not show up for work and wouldn't answer his phone. This was so unusual for him, that his friends and co-workers he'd known for many years by that time, knew something wasn't right. They went to his place and were able to get one of my brothers to come and check things out. My daddy had passed in his sleep, peacefully, with a smile on his face. I like to think that he was happy to be reunited with my mom who had passed 2 1/2 yrs before, as well as all his other family who had passed on before him. Though he was the youngest of the 8 children born to his parents, he was the 2nd after his oldest brother to pass on in adulthood.
I miss my daddy. I loved him dearly. He was a sweet, sweet man. I loved sitting next to him in church and listening to him sing. One of the songs I remember him singing was Abide with me; 'Tis Eventide... and whenever we sing that song in Church... I think of him.
It's been a very long time, and I don't think of you often enough... but I miss you daddy.
4 March 1920 - 12 May 1988
