Tribute to my dad... the greatest father who ever lived

[cyborg]

April 2,1918- December 23,1997

[cyborg]

Note: this is the first time I'm posting a picture so it may not come out. Anyway...

April 2 is my father's birthday. He died of liver cancer the day before Christmas Eve in 1997. This is my tribute to his memory. He was very self effacing and couldn't take it when people said nice things about him. Now that he is gone, he can't fuss or complain that I'm going to fawn all over his memory.

Today we can't turn the channel and see people complaining about the conditions of their birth. I know FReepers know which groups I speak about. My father was born to two Italian immigrants who didn't know a speck of english, or how to read and write english. He was one among many siblings living in a one room 'immigrant special' in New York City. From young my father worked, delivering hars to the wealthy on Long Island. Life was rough and the Depression made it worse but my father kept working. Italians were not afforded many opportunities to work and even black people were making more money than many Italian immigrants. Somehow he fell in the with the wrong crowd who were the forerunners of what the Mafia is today. My father did not serve in World War Two because of his 'record' if you get my drift. This is what youth will do sometimes when you see your friends with money, with ladies, with fame and fortune. My father told me after he came out of prison, he did the work of four hard working men. No one could touch him for working. My father could have blamed his parents, could have blamed America, and cried bigotry at any time. However, he didn't. By the time, the mid-Sixties rolled around he was already operating more than one business. My father was a kind hearted man who was always ready to share the American dream with other people. My mother was only two weeks in the country before she started working for him. My mother didn't like America and wanted to go back home and he convinced her to stay and give America a chance. After all, who knew better than him that if you stick it out here you can make it anywhere?

My father was the most politically incorrect person you can think of. He wore cowboy hats, drove a pickup truck with a gunrack and a rebel flag license plate. He cussed and listened to country music. This often scared off people but my mother knew him well enough to know the gentleman he was. If you want to know my father, watch Archie Bunker. Yeah he was a walking nightmare for any democrat.

My father was GOD to me. There was no man that could ever compare to my dad. He cared for his children the best way he knew how, that was to provide financially. I never understood why he couldn't accept birthday gifts, father's day gifts, kisses,etc. and I interpreted these signs as him not loving me. Now that I look back, I realize that he loved me more than I ever will know. The best he could manage was call me 'princess grace' 'pussycat' and 'half pint' in lieu of 'I love you'.

America is running out of men like my father. These men had character and charm. They were rough around the edges in a very macho, manly way, real 'john wayne types'. However, these men like my dad defined America and made every immigrant want to assimilate as fast as possible. My dad didn't need to march with Martin Luther King or go to liberal college sit-ins to treat people right. My father didn't feel the need to explain our 'white flight' out of Rochdale,Queens to Long Island. All I remember, being seven at the time, was my mother being happy about getting a house. I just remember being happy to escape the neighborhood boys. I don't ever recall my dad ever ashamed to be a white male in America, or apologizing for making a lot of money.

There's not enough space for me to write about my father. He was a man larger than life. I'd like to write a book, but I don't care to. My political views and opinions speak for themselves. These thoughts are a bit disorganized so I thank you for taking the time to read this tribute.

[cyborg]

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/cyborg565a/vwp?.dir=/My+Photos&.src=ph&.dnm=Image22.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/cyborg565a/lst%3f%26.dir=/My%2bPhotos%26.src=ph%26.view=t

If anyone wants to see a larger photo, just cut and paste this into your browser. I am new at this, and didn't expect the pic to come out so small! The cigar is worth the trip. My dad smoked expensive cigars much to my mom's dismay.

Thanks.

[cyborg]

Three times a charm. The top photo was my dad at his best health ever, almost three hundred pounds. The bottom was the last time I saw him alive. I was p'oed because I had to go to work and I was yelling at him to get a second opinion because he lost so much weight. My mother insisted on taking a picture so my smile was a bit 'forced'.

[wardaddy]

I'm sorry hon,

I have tried to get the pics. I know it's a yahoo webhosting site but it won't come across.

I see your daddy passed away exactly 10 days after my own did.

I wish I could get the link to work.

Please try it again.


Regards.

[wardaddy]

I see you were a late in life baby girl!

[cyborg]

As far as my dad was concerned, I was always a 'girl'. My dad was very old fashioned, and had very specific rules for his daughters. My father was my IDOL, although he came back and forth. I looked forward to his phone call everyday and his visit every week. It was almost like having a dad in the military. My mother took his death very hard because they were together for thirty five years. My mother came to this country and didn't have a job. Her sister kicked her out of her apartment and my mother was homeless until my father gave her a job. I am only here because my father insisted on my mom paying him back for his generosity...LOL. I remember being in college and talking about my father. It was the height of political correctness and unfortunately a lot of my 'friends' just could not get their brains around my parents'relationship. Unfortunately for them, someone drilled into their brains that white men were evil. A lot of my black friends just couldn't receive that (or I believe didn't want to). Maybe they had some bad experiences or something.

[Black Agnes]

NYC area freeper 'vanity' post!

Her dad must've been awesome!

[Black Agnes]

You and your sister were the light of your dads life.

I can't get the picture to load :(.

[cyborg]

I posted a link to Yahoo before I realized that I had to pay for the premium service. Somewhere on the thread is a full sized photograph that I hope came out. I need to spend time in the HTML sandbox (that I couldn't locate before I wrote this thread!).

[Black Agnes]

Ah. The HTML sandbox is a great thing! Give it a try!

[cyborg]

I posted the pic to my profile. It worked (what a miracle). At least I can see it on my profile.

[stand watie]

NOPE!

[cyborg]

Haha! LOL. It is me... I am convinced. By Mother's Day I will have it figured out. I will leave all FReepers to recover from me torturing everyone with my experimentation.

[wardaddy]

Keep trying girl. What server are you on?

Most offer free webhosting. My Bellsouth.net page rarely fails and even gives you an html link to copy to post pics.

Geocities and Tripod and yes even Yahoo are notorious for breaking links.

Your OS also can be involved. Windows XP is a lot simpler to post something from My Documents or My Pictures to your web page than 95 or 98's Web Publishing Wizard was.

Somebody on here can probably walk you thru it. Don't worry about inserting height/width in your link unless it's big pic.

[cyborg]

http://home.earthlink.net/~cyborg565a

I hope this works :-)

[Black Agnes]

It worked! yay!

[cyborg]

FINALLY! I am going to clean it up of course. I have to hook up my scanner so I can scan my mother's pictures. She had a photopostcard of herself when she was seventeen. My mom looks like Ronnie Spector or Dianna Ross.

Glad it worked this time!

[wardaddy]

Eureka!


You sure do your pic some justice dear!

Your dad smoked hand rolled stogies too eh?

I go thru about 2 La Gloria Cubana Double Coronas per day. I'm a cheapskate so I use my guillotine cutter to make 2 robustos from one double corona.

That's great...I love it here when there is a face and some history to a username.

I need to get off my arse and take my new scanner outta the box and rebuild my profile page.

Warm Regards and Congrats!

[cyborg]

My dad used to go to Cuba A LOT. He had a lot of friends in low places...lol. I am going to smoke his favorite cigar in his honor tomorrow. He wouldn't be caught dead with "white owls, dutchies, or blunts". Any cigar that already had a hole was no cigar at all. That's another thing my father taught me. I learned how to appreciate the finer things in life, even if I did have to sneak a cigar out of his pocket!

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/Home

[stand watie]

IT WORKED!

at long last i get to see my cyber-correspondent!

free dixie,sw