Terry Stricker

Here are some good and funny memories I have of my father in law Terry Stricker. These are in no particular order: Malcolm and Terry had certain adjectives they would say back and forth to each other. Terry would start by saying, “Malcolm you’re remarkable!” Malcolm “unaversable” (his made up word). Terry “unbelievable!” One of Malcolm’s favorite foods are burgers. Sometimes Terry would meet us at burger restaurants even if we already had other plans afterward. Once he drove an hour one way just to have dinner at a burger restaurant with us. He’d come over our house to visit afterward other times. Terry often came over to visit after NDCL games even if the weather was bad. Cameron would sit next to him or on his lap. NDCL’s mascot is a lion. Terry would point to the lion on his hat or shirt and ask Cam what animal it is and what sound it makes. They would both end up roaring loudly at each other! Cam likes to jump from stair to stair sometimes. I discourage it so he doesn’t miss and fall. Terry usually sat on our living room stairs when visiting. Cam started to jump and I said it was only ok because Grandpa was holding his hand. So he would jump on stairs when Terry was over and say “it’s ok cuz Big Papa hold my hand.” When Malcolm and Cameron were baptized Terry and Kathy Stricker and my parents met us at our church to see them baptized. Terry told us how happy he was the boys were baptized. Terry was Catholic and our church is Protestant but he didn’t seem to mind. Both our boys are very intelligent. Mike is very intelligent too. Terry Stricker attributed it to both Mike and I, not just his son, which of course made me feel good too. Terry often said that Malcolm would grow up to be a doctor, and Mike (PA) and I (RN) would be working for him! Terry told me many times we were doing a great job raising Malcolm and Cameron. It helps to hear that because I (and probably most parents) often feel like my parenting needs some work. Terry loved dogs. We have cats. Several yrs ago one of our cats was sick. We had vacation already scheduled. Mike still wanted to go, but I didn’t want to leave when our cat was sick. So Terry and Kathy checked on our cats for us while we were gone so I knew they were ok. I don’t think Terry even liked cats but he still checked on them for us anyway. Terry usually had a cooler in his car with Coca Cola in it. He offered it to our neighbors a few times by saying “have a cold one” referring to coca cola instead of beer! Terry loved music and going to festivals in the summer to see live bands play. He called Mike to let him know when certain bands were playing (especially oldies band Shout and Irish band New Barley Corn) to see if we wanted to meet him there. He even went in very hot weather! We went to Christmas Eve mass a couple times with Terry. He invited us every year. At St. Phil’s one year, before Malcolm and Cameron were born, he lit candles for his immediate family members, including one for me. I was happy to know that he included me as part of his family. Terry usually called Mike about once a week to talk and find out how we were all doing. He always asked what new things the boys were doing or saying. Terry invited us to a restaurant he really liked for his and Kathy’s 40th anniversary. We offered to pay, but he insisted on paying for our meals and theirs too. Terry often said “That’s the healthiest way to eat it” even when talking about deep fried food lol! Terry offered me a Klondike bar over his house when I was pregnant with Malcolm. That summer I had a Klondike bar almost every day to cool off! Most times when Terry was with Malcolm and Cameron he said “Gimme five!” He would hold his hand up, and the boys would give him a high five. That’s one of the memories Cameron likes to bring up. Over the past year I started calling Mike “Terry Jr.” sometimes because Mike started emailing businesses if something was wrong with their product or for poor customer service. Terry called the businesses to voice his concerns. They both usually get part of their money back or sometimes things for free!