To many my age, Don is remembered as an amazing & thought-provoking history professor, however I had the opportunity to get to know him as a father to Benjamin. I watched B for a few years during my undergrad and grad school days. “Benjaminizing or Benjamifaction” (as Don called it) was always an adventure. Don often had ideas for what the two of us should do -- go to the giant slide pool, play disc golf, build cucumber boats with Fran and the gang at the park -- he always wanted B to have the opportunity to try fun new things.
He was a great dad. B really looked up to him, both as a dad, and history professor. You’ll never meet a kid who knows more about the revolutionary war (or any war, really) than B. And Don was so proud of how smart he is. As a nanny- I also appreciated Don as a father. He cared, but he wasn’t the “over-protective parent” type. One time, I was trying to teach B how to ride a bike, and we didn’t have any accidents all day. Then, when the big moment came to show Don the progress, he ran right into a brick retaining wall and fell over.
After my time with B, I would drop him off and stay to chat with Don for 5, 10, 15 minutes. I would pick his brain on his opinions of things and he would challenge my thoughts on various topics….We would talk about the progress (or lack there of) of his book and problems with publishers, he would give me his unique advice about my education, career decisions, relationship, and up-coming wedding, and of course we would exchange “you won’t believe what B did/said today” stories. I also got a lot of good-natured banter from Don… mostly about my wedding. He didn’t believe I could make my wedding dress, and would always point out how little time I had left to finish it (which I did, with the help of Susan!) Also, he tried to convince me to let him be the Officiant, insisting that he was a skilled professional and he would behave. He didn’t officiate, but he did come to the wedding. Afterward he sent a simple email saying how the whole day was a fun-loving event that really reflected our personalities and how he and his family really enjoyed it -- coming from Don, this meant a lot to me.
Don- I will miss you. I will miss learning new “hippie” slag, getting your ridiculous recommendations for Halloween costumes, your harassment about Paul, and your non-traditional life advice…. But most of all I will miss just sitting in the kitchen, having fun with “a couple of wild and crazy guys.”
With love to Susan and Benjamin,
Sarah Zdroik
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