Mine taught me to shoot. The 82nd ABN taught him...
He escaped communism so his children would know freedom.
(I say, “know” freedom rather than have freedom. It is up to us to keep it.)
Three quotes from my dad:
1)
There’s them that’s good
There’s them that’s bad
And then there’s them that just needs killin
2)
STUPID should hurt
stupid SHOULD hurt
stupid should HURT
3)
Wish in one hand, spit in the other. See which one fills up first.
well, he actually said something other than “spit” but that is close enough.
My dad lived the American Dream and passed its promise on to all of us.
He never wavered in his love of God, Family, Country.
As a kid you don’t understand how courageous a man must be to hew to those simple values.
May God bless him and Mom too.
Oh my. Where do I start?
He was our hero. We never feared for anything when Dad was around. For my sister he was her Knight in Shining Armor. For me he was the best buddy ever and consummate role model.
He could scold with just a glance or a humph and that was all that was needed. We knew we had disappointed him and that was enough to get the message. He believed in us so much.
When we got older we found out he was not superhuman or perfect and we respected him all that much more because we then saw that all that he did he did for love.
He was every bit the Grandfather that he was Dad and maybe some more because then he had experience. Somedays, in many ways, I think my son is his greatest work and he is so much like his Grandfather in so many ways.
I can’t say enough about him. He was athlete, artist, musician, historian, poet writer, engineer, mechanic, craftsman, gardner, adventurer, professor, leader of men, even a fighter pilot and he loved our Mom and he was a God fearing man. Neither of us can remember him once not having time for us. We could set our watch by the time his old pickup would roll to a stop under the big oak tree after work and none of us could wait for him to get home. Including him. We thought everyone grew up like we did and then when we grew up we found out that hardly anyone did.
His integrity is nearly legendary in our home town to those that knew him. We are expected to maintain that legacy and do. He does not haunt us, we are part of him.
He as been gone 10 years now and I still can’t mention him without crying. I’ll never get used to him being gone.
Happy Father’s Day Poppa!
In fact I remember the very last time we golfed together and the last time I ever picked up a club and he attempted to give me some advice. He said "Can I give you some advice?" I said no thanks dad just let me play. His response was "well f##k you then"........ He was a good guy tho.........
My Dad was in the Army Infantry; in combat in N. Africa, Sicily, Italy & finally Germany during WWII. He was never the same; but he got up, dusted himself off & went to work for us after the war. He used to say, “War is Hell.” That’s about all he ever said about it; couldn’t talk about it. He did say, “It’s the old man’s “war”; it’s the young man’s “fight”!” - He was a good father.
Best thing my Dad ever did for me and my sibs was to get married here in the USA and bring us into the world as US citizens; we hit the jackpot! He’s from China, came here after WW2 to be educated to be a surgeon, and then went back to Hong Kong to hang his shingle. He’s well into his 80’s and still practices as a surgeon with hands that are still steady as a rock, but a well earned retirement is in the works this year. He has his flaws but he’s my Dad and I’ll always honor him. I should visit him more often.
My Dad. A long story.
I love you, Dad Happy Father’s Day!
My Dad,
Taught me how to smile in 1957...
but later on in teen years -
reminded me you can’t get by
in life with just a smile.
I disagreed.
Because you could be left with nothing...
and if you smile at someone
it brightens their day and yours.
Grew up with a Democrat Dad - diagnosed as Bi-Polar.
Tough life for him.
He’s been in a slump for months - unable to get out
of bed. But he crawled his way over to my house today
for Fathers Day. Because he knew - he would be
uplifted by my smile. Love you Dad.
Also taught: driving a stick, tennis, dancing the twist
to the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show(stayed up late!!),
bike riding, swimming, golf, Music(Moody Blues)...
Pops is the granite this xenolith was an inclusion of. Decorated helicopter pilot who apparently considered lead to be just another component of air at one time. Rooted me in hunting and shooting, put up with my foibles, managed to never kill any of my sisters boyfriends. All around standup man who has managed to not get any DC stuck on him after working there post Army career.
I’m batting 1000 if I manage to be able to look over the rim of his and his father and father-in laws shoes when I get old.
Hats off to Dad’s and here’s to hoping we all can make them proud!
“My Dad taught me how to drive a car with a manual transmission.”
Oh God I can’t believe you said that. My Dad taught all of us how to drive and by the way we are Irish so it was yelling all the way. I have hysterical memories of it.
My Dad was the greatest role model any kid could have had growing up. He was the doctor when we were kids. The glowing cigarette on the tick (remember that one) the pocket knife to take out the splinter, the string to pull out the loose tooth. Remember “don’t pull it til I’m ready Dad”?
When we were really sick and remember when I was a kid there was no health insurance Dad was the final arbiter as to if we needed to go to the Dr. He would put his hand on our foreheand and make that decision.
My Dad was the guy who would stop late at night in the South and help a black family with car trouble. Trust me that was unheard of.
My Dad was the guy who at age 11 (in our family) got out the bolt action single shot .22 and taught us to shoot. He’s the guy who taught me the art of threading a worm on a hook and also the guy who conned me into jumping in the water and pulling the boat across the sand bar in the intracoastal at St. Augustine.
My Dad love my Mom and he love us. I miss him every day.
My father and I were raised by the same woman, my grandmother, so we were more sibs in some ways than parent/child. Whenever I have a car issue, I always think of calling Dad. He loved his cars. Been gone nigh unto 13 years now.
Dad didn’t always take time to show me how to do things but he did tell us, “You’ve got a smart mother and a smart father, you figure it out.”
Kids take things literally so I figured if they were smart, I was too, and could figure it out. Served me well though the years.
Nothing in this world I love more than that old man.
My dad was an ordained minister and he lived what he preached. He adored my mom and my sisters. He taught me to use tools, to drive a stick shift, to garden and to be kind. We didn’t have much money but he always found a way to help those in need. He gave me my work ethic and my sense of right and wrong. While my career choice was completely foreign to him he was proud that I had a career. In his retirement, he mentored my two children and they rightly give him much credit for their success in life. He was absolutely the family rock.
It would take a good long time to list how wonderful of a dad my father is. As a kid, I just wanted to be with him wherever he was, whatever he was doing. That’s how I learned to fix ANYTHING.
But, the most important thing he taught me was that it is MY decision whether or not I am happy, not anyone else’s responsibility.
And he added to that; “So if you’ve decided you’re in a bad mood, don’t try to ruin my day, or I’ll whip you.”