THE LEGEND OF PA FIDD

Pa Fidd is quite a legend within the Fiddler circle, I learned of his legend when I met my husband, Jeff. My story with Pa Fidd began when I joined my husband’s band as a backup singer, we would get together every weekend to practice at my husband’s parents house. At the time I joined the band, I was still married to my ex-husband and Jeff was a friend in sore need of a backup singer so I took the job and before I ever went to my first practice I was warned about not to tick off Pa Fidd. I would hear stories about his temper and how if you really get him mad, the shotgun would come out. Needless to say I listened to the warnings from the people that knew Pa Fidd. In my mind I had envisioned a man who would go postal at any given second, one who was like a rabid pit bull looking for his next prey, and a man that would rip your head off if you looked at him the wrong way. I did, in my own time found out how wrong everyone was.

My real first encounter with Jeff’s dad was when we needed a ride up to the American Legion to meet my husband at the time for our weekly dart game. The man I had envisioned wasn’t what I thought, instead I saw a man who was quite and thoughtful in his actions. I did feel though in my first meeting with him, which only lasted about ten minutes that he was sizing me up. I am sure he was wondering who this tall blonde was that was hanging out with his son and the fact that I was married sure didn’t score any brownie points with him either. Pa Fidd comes from the old school way, one where married women did not just hang out with single men. So my challenge in my mind began, I was going to gain the trust and respect of this man if it was the last thing I ever did.

I knew right off the bat that my biggest hurdle to overcome with Pa Fidd was his former daughter-in-law, who had left his oldest son and who at the time was putting him and the Fiddler family through hell during the divorce process. Pa Fidd just didn’t have the trust of any new woman coming into the Fiddler circle, plus it didn’t help that his ex-daughter-in-law and I shared a lot of physical characteristics. I had to prove to him that I wasn’t a psycho nut job that was going to be the ruin of his son’s life. I knew I had made my first achievement with him when I went from being known as “That girl” to him knowing my name. My second hurdle I crossed with him came when he learned that I did actually know something about cars. Pa Fidd is a master when it comes to fixing cars and the one thing that drives him nuts are people that do not take care of their cars, so lucky for me I wasn’t one of those people that drove him nuts. My final hurdle with Pa Fidd came after Jeff and I were married, I believe then he saw I wasn’t going to hurt his son and he truly knew that I loved Jeff with all my heart. I had defeated being the psycho nut job in his mind at last.

Now you must be saying why is Pa Fidd so special to you? Well, he is in so many ways. Pa Fidd is a man, who like a pit bull will defend his family til death if need be. He is a very no nonsense type of person, one where if you want his respect, you have to earn it. The biggest secret Pa Fidd hides is his heart of gold; in my eyes he is one of the most caring and loving man I know. He showed that to me when his wife had cancer, he never left her side for one second, he also stood by his son when he went through his hellish divorce, and when his mother could no longer care for herself he brought her to his home to look after her. Pa Fidd is the kind of man that would give his shirt off his back if it would help you because that just the way he is.

I know if Pa Fidd reads this he will be thinking that she didn’t have to do it. Well I say to you Pa Fidd, I did it so accept it. I know you don’t like people complementing or thanking you but its good to know that you are appreciated and you are by your whole family. I am sure you don’t realize this but I look at you as my dad. I can hear you now saying, “Oh my goodness.” You got that lofty role when my dad died and I really felt loss without him. I needed so bad to have my dad role model and in your way you stepped right into that role. You are always there to give me advice, listen if I need help, and give me the encouragement when things get tough, just like my dad did when he was alive. For me, you made the loss of my dad a lot easier and I thank you for that.

Will let the legend of Pa Fidd live on but in my eyes you are just a big ole teddy bear. Thanks for all you have done for me, I love you dad!