My Dad

Music Box Dancer by Frank Mills — Read More…

Don and Deanna, 1969
Don and Deanna, 1969

My dad is Donald William Miller. I was a bit surprised when I saw that his birth certificate lists his name is Donal. He is known as Donnie by some. I remember Erich DeRidder calling him Donald W. My dad’s favorite color is green. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the Green Bay Packers or not. He would be hard pressed to pick his favorite pastime. Music would definitely be one of them. He enjoys listening to polkas and playing various musical instruments. Music must be in his heart since he is able to play music by ear. His favorite instrument is the accordion. He started playing the accordion at the age of 4 when he received one as a gift. He has also played the violin, saxophone, piano, organ and clarinet. We always had an organ in the house growing up. He would still play his accordion today if it was not too heavy for him. There is a piano in the club house at the senior village they recently moved to. He does play that on occasion. You can’t be a Miller without knowing how to play a game of  Sheepshead. My dad taught me how to play before I went to Kindergarten. I have many memories playing Sheepshead, Crazy 8 and King on the Corner with my dad and my grandpa. My dad was an Electrician by trade but he has not done any electrical work for years now. He worked as a Mechanic in his younger days. It was very common to see my dad with his head under the hood of a car. But he has not been able to do that for years now either. Currently he is 84. He very recently received a diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer and his CT scan was unclear as to weather it spread to bone already or not.