Then you were exceptionally lucky.
Mother left father when I was 6 weeks old because he was an alcoholic, and she worried what would happen to my brother and me if she got sick. I was raised by her and grandparents that I adored. And while grandfather was a wonderful male role model, I so wished for that mercurial, brilliant soldier/poet who died in my childhood.
You had an interesting father. I’m green with envy, and so happy for you.
Lost my first wife due to my own drinking and it took a long time to be able to do much more for my children than to keep up support payments 9paid a lot more than I was legally bound to do as I got sober shortly after the wife left with them).
Turns out their mother hooked up with some men that made me look like a Boy Scout and God must have helped keep it from me because I think I would have committed a very serious sin if I had known. My kids ended up transitioning through my home as young adults and are both doing good now - they call my current wife "Mom" and have nothing to do with their mother.
Been sober for over 29 years and I think I am probably a better person for having gone through my earlier transgressions and developing a new love for what life can be.
Sorry you missed out on your Dad's company - my ex grew up without a Father because her mother left her Dad when she was very young and she ended up very bitter and had some serious issues that I was unaware of when we got married - it sounds like you were very fortunate to have a loving home vs. a bitter one.
My own Dad had his bouts of drinking and it caused strife in our home when I was younger and we were estranged for some of my early adulthood (he was a good father when I was very young and he taught me many useful skills but the friction between him and Mom kept thing tense, especially as I got older and fell into the same alcohol trap he had been mired in) - he got his act straight, I got my own act straight, and we became very close for the last 15 years of his life. Goes to show that adversity can have an upside if God is involved.
God Bless