My dad took me everywhere with him. I’d run home and sit around waiting for him to get home.

Now that I’m an adult I wonder how he worked all day and then did so much with me. I wonder, and I’m grateful.

I had a couple of problems, though. I couldn’t stop talking, and I always wanted to tell another story. After a while, even my dad got tired of it.

When I’d been on automatic just too long, he’d finally say “Shutup Russ.”  He’d have to say that a lot. I’d be on automatic a lot.

As an adult, I feel “shutup” as a word of affection.  After all, the man I loved more than any other said that to me.