Pap and Me, Christmas 2007

As late as it is, and as much as I have to do, I should be getting ready for bed, but I cannot rest until I've paid my respects to my Pap Dasch who passed away this morning around 8AM in sunny Florida.

He had moved down to Florida almost a year ago with my Gram (who I love dearly), to escape the cold, be nearer to my aunt and her children, and get some much-needed care for his ailing self.

He'd gotten quite frail over the last two years. I never quite got used to it, for he'd always been active, even into his seventies. He'd won a silver medal for table tennis in a senior olympics, had made occasional trips up to Pittsburgh from Maryland to visit friends and family, and had played on a seniors only softball league.

He was a character. He'd struggled with his mood his whole life, and it ultimately got the best of him. In spite of his faults, he'd always treated me well, making me laugh, even at his infamous stubbornness.

In his youth he'd played piano (or so I'd been told), and once I actually got to see it. I'd spent many summer visits (during my grade school years) banging on Gram and Pap's out of tune Yamaha upright piano. I loved it. Gram never minded my creative banging, (or so she led me to believe), and I thought for sure she was an honest and true fan of my "song-writing". Pap would ultimately come in from someplace during one of my piano sessions, and snarl, "banging", and shaking his head at my efforts. This became a regular event for anytime I chose to play the piano.

One day, (and only one day), while I'd been "banging" he actually had motioned for me to step aside, at which time he chose to cut loose on the piano with a Boogie-Woogie that would have made Jerry Lee Lewis proud. Then he got up and left. And I never saw him play that piano again. But he continued to tolerate my banging. I guess the music lover in him decided he could tolerate such creative experiments, even from a child.

Pap was also very funny, mostly not because he said funny things, (well, ok, he did say funny things),but because he dared to say many things that were only funny to him, thus cracking himself up in the process. The man was, as my father would refer to him, "a howl".

No one is perfect. I wonder how his childhood shaped him. I wonder how long he struggled with certain things. I wonder why he chose not to amend certain things before his passing. I wonder where he is now. I know he liked Julie Andrews, Karen Carpenter, and Nat King Cole.

There were high school years where he and my Gram came to many of my school concerts and shows. On one occasion they came to hear my high school choir sing at the courthouse in downtown Bel Air (Maryland). On the walk back to school, I could see my Pap waving at me from across the street where he and Gram had parked, yelling to me, "CORNY! CORRRRRRNY!", (which is what he always called me), and the girls with whom I was walking, having misheard him, answered back to him, "Good morning, good morrrrrrning!".

They came to see my shows on the riverboats, at Kennywood, Busch Gardens, too. They came to Glen Burnie to La Fontainebleu. Pap enjoyed good, old-fashioned entertainment. I loved that he and Gram could come to so many things. It made me happy.

His name was William, "Bill" Dasch (very German). He was married to my Gram, Mary Dasch (Davis) of Verona, PA. They had four children: My aunt Marilyn, my aunt Kathy, my mom, Lucy, and my aunt Patti. Marilyn has a son, John (who still lives in Verona, PA), my mom has myself and my half-brother, Will. Aunt Kathy has a son, Daniel and a daughter, Anne Claire. Patti has triplets (two boys and a girl), Tristan, Nathan, and Olivia.

For a very long time, my grandma and pap were MY grandma and pap. I didn't have to share them with anyone, (because I was the only grandchild around for quite some time) and I spent many enjoyable, and memorable summer days and nights on their back porch in Verona, (really Penn Hills) PA. Daniel and Anne Claire have gotten to know Gram and Pap very well, as they all lived in the Baltimore area within driving distance from each other for quite some time. Now Tristan, Nathan, and Olivia (who live in Orlando) will get to know Grandma like I do. They will never know the Pap I knew, a much younger Pap. But they will remember him in their own special way.

Love on Grandma for me, kids. Love her LOTS.

Pap, you'll be missed.