Yellow Submarine and My Cool Dad

By Lynn, on August 12th, 2007

I heard Hey Jude coming home from work tonight. It was late and dark and the roads were pretty empty. It’s one of my thinking times. Listening to the Beatles, my mind went back to something I had not thought of for a long time.

My dad died two years ago at 70. It’s hard to see our parents age and die. My best memories of him are of a young, strong man who could take care of me and my sister no matter what… Memories of a seasoned, good-looking veteran coming home from Vietnam with his beret hanging neatly to one side.

He was the coolest dad ever. When I was in kindergarten my dad came to pick me up early one day. He announced to my teachers and the rest of the class that he was taking me to see Yellow Submarine. Do you know how cool I felt? Can you just imagine what my (then) young teachers thought? My dad, as I mentioned before, was quite good looking. If only he had been swinging by to pick them up. Swoon. And how many preschoolers get to go see Yellow Submarine anyway?

My dad had already bought me a copy of Meet The Beatles to play on my little record player in my room, so I knew exactly who they were.

Anyway, to this day I love a lot of the Beatles’ music. One of my first memories of my daddy is his voice. It was on a reel-to-reel tape recording he sent to my mom from Vietnam to play for me. I was only about 3 years old. I have no idea where he made the tape or how, but he felt desperate to get a message to us. I had gotten into something before he shipped out on one of his tours and he had spanked me. Nothing major to me. It was probably just a swift pop on the rear-end, which I’m sure I needed. I was only 3, and daddy was such a kind dad, it had to be almost nothing. But I imagine to him – being away from me and mom and wondering if he’d live to come home – it was the most horrible thing he could have done before he shipped out. I don’t even remember it. But on this tape – and I do remember the tape - he was talking directly to me. I could hear The Beatles’ hit Yesterday playing in the background. Daddy told me, when he got home – if he made it home - he would never, ever spank me again. He did make it home. And he kept his word, though I probably needed one now and then! Whenever I hear Yesterday, I think of how the words must have affected my dad in his situation.

I saw this T-shirt on line tonight and it makes me think of that trip Dad and I made to see Yellow Submarine.

The Beatles Yellow Submarine Liverpool T-Shirt