“Little Smalls” Chapter 19

When I first heard the news my dad had ALS I was stationed in Hawaii. This was my first duty station and I was not due to change duty stations until 2024. After the call I took a few days to figure what’s next. I had never really heard of anyone with ALS, much less knew much about it. Shortly after speaking with my parents, I decided I wanted to put in for a compassionate reassignment to be closer to home. I started the process to come home and in November 2022 I got my assignment orders to Fort Belvoir, VA - only 15 minutes from my pop.  On my first day at my new company, my first sergeant informed me that his dad has ALS as well. I may not have known what ALS was then, but I intimately do now.

Most of my memories with my dad are of the two of us doing some kind of project together. Everywhere he went, I went. Everything he did, he taught me. And everything I do, is to make him proud. I even have the same job in the Army as he did as Military Police. The two of us are a mirror image. Our personalities, interests, work ethic, humor, even the mess we make, all damn near exact. So, any time he says he’s got something to do, he really means “WE'VE got something to do”.

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The simplest trip to the hardware store involved a new tool and a new craft to learn. One of the first projects I remember doing with him was remodeling my oldest sister’s room. She was gone visiting some family for about 2 weeks and my dad wanted to repaint and build all new furniture for her. So, of course, we started with a trip to Home Depot for supplies. The smell of the lumber section is one of my favorites because it brings back so many memories of my dad and me. I remember him teaching me how to choose the correct 2x4, wheeling me around in big orange carts, and learning about all the different types of screws. We took out all of my sister’s furniture and gathered some measurements to make custom fit shelving, a desk, and a new bed.  That was the project I learned how to use a table saw... much to my mother’s disapproval. She voiced her concerns and protested my need to learn, but my dad was insistent that I needed to learn and that we would be safe. At the end of the project, my sister had a brand-new room, painted pink and black to match her angsty teen personality, black custom desk, sitting nook and full-sized bed.

One of our more recent projects was remodeling the downstairs guest bathroom. Yet another trip to Home Depot and some new tools. We ripped out the old tile flooring, installed new tile flooring, painted the walls, replaced the old toilet, installed a new sink vanity, and refinished the shower floor. Let me tell you, removing tile and old concrete is no easy task. Especially without the right tools because we thought we could do without all the fancy tools. All this was done while mom was out of town. I'd give it a 10/10 for effort and a 8/10 for quality, just don’t look too closely to the tile alignment.

The two of us also share a love for aquariums and fish. As a kid, we had a rather large fresh water aquarium with all sorts of fish that I LOVED, but after multiple military moves, we had to let it go. For years, my dad and I thought about getting a new one, but the answer was always no. One day, when I was living at home as an adult, my parents were gone on a trip to visit family, and I was able to sneak a little 5-gallon tank into my room that was home to the cutest little Beta fish. I didn’t tell anyone about it and I thought I kept it a secret until I came home from work one day and my dad said, “nice tank, I like the fish”. Over time, I felt like I needed a bigger tank, more plants, something nicer, and eventually my mom caught on and noticed. “You got more fish didn’t you?” or “That’s not the same tank you had last week." Each time she would turn to my dad and shake her head. Like father like daughter.

All these projects and adventures we’ve had is where I got my nick name “Little Smalls." Among all the mess and chaos my dad might have created, my mom always said to him “you’re killing me smalls”. So, as I got older and started experimenting with all the tools in my dad’s garage and more house projects came up, there I was helping out or taking charge, making the same mess and causing the same chaos. My mom would look at me and say, “you killing me Little Smalls, just like your dad.”

Time for Little Smalls to become Big Smalls. My first initiation into this role was just a few weeks ago when we had to close and drain the water pipes for the winter. My dad wrote out his instruction, step by step, all the little details he could think of, and sent them over to me to read and follow.

It all seemed easy enough: turn the handle, open the spout, turn the knob, close the door. “Easy peasy, 1 2 3” or so I thought.

Our house has two areas to drain and turn off - one in our laundry room and one in the ceiling of a bedroom. Turning off the spout in the laundry room went off without a hitch, quick and easy. But then we had to move on to the bedroom. As I said it’s in the ceiling, so a ladder was necessary, and it’s a tight squeeze in the little 2x2 hole. For this one, my mom took charge, as I read her off the direction written by dad. First one went rather easy, a little miscommunication and a few drips, but no big deal. It was the second handle that cause all the problems!!

As my mom turned the handle, I had to run outside and turn on the outside spout. When the water stop flowing out, I turned it back off and ran back inside. My dad told my mom to turn this little nut to bleed the line and as soon as she cracked it open, ALL THE WATER CAME  BURSTING OUT! Quickly my mom tried to close it but she lost the nut in all the chaos! Eventual she found it and put it back on, but the damage was done. Dad was shaking his fist typing fast and vigorously. “WHAT DID YOU DO!!” “TURN IT OFF!!”. A couple gripes and loud words later, we cooled off and dad further explained how to fix it. Back outside I went to open the spout, ran inside, closed the handle and bleed the line. Eventually we were all able to laugh it off and clean up the mess.

Even with his disabilities and obstacles to overcome, my dad has all sorts of new tools to use to hold his reigning title as “Smalls” with me right behind as “Little Smalls”.  On the day ALS takes my dad away, I am ready to step up and take on the role of “Smalls” thanks to the time I spent with my dad.

Love, Dominique aka "Little Smalls"