8 Comments

Your tribute had me in tears Terry. Your Dad, my Uncle Jim, had a great influence on all of us who bear the Fallis name. I remember well those Sunday night dinners when one was careful not to err in our conversation. It must have run deep in the family prior to our generation because my Dad and our Nana had many of the same characteristics. We are all better people because of the influence of your Mom and Dad and indeed our Fallis heritage. 🤗🥰

Expand full comment

Thank you, Marilyn! So many fond memories of our broader Fallis clan.

Expand full comment

What a wonderful tribute to your dad. My family's interaction was very different, however, my father, also, was the one with a quirky sense of humor. Mom would roll her eyes at him dramatically.

I soaked-up that affinity for humor and it has served me well while dealing with mom's slide down the dementia rabbit-hole in recent years. Note: she still rolls her eyes!

Thanks for sharing your father's remarkable life and influence.

Expand full comment

A wonderful homage to your father, Terry...

Expand full comment

He was an inspiration for sure. And interestingly, it was your father who first got me to understand when to correctly use "I" versus "me". I was probably 8 or 9 at the time, and likely bragging about a fish "me and my brother" caught, or something like that, and he had a simple way of explaining I should say "my brother and I" without being patronizing, and actually making a lot of sense. A real class act.

Expand full comment

Wonderful homage to your father, Terry. Makes me think of my own writerly roots, which, in contrast to you, were primarily my mother; from my father comes my sense of humour. But there were other sources which were latent at the time. I think you’ve stimulated me to write a post on my blog on this theme, though it would be an update of one I already wrote a few years back.

Expand full comment

Beautiful tribute, reminds me of the laughter I grew up on in our own home, mainly instigated by my father and, often, with my mother chiming in. Q: Did your father ever write a book, essay, light verse on his life, or pen anything on birds or paediatrics ? Or did your mother or brother ? Or any other sibling become writers as well?

Expand full comment

What a lovely and thoughtful tribute to the role your father played in your life as a writer, Terry. Best, Cynthia

Expand full comment