Dad

[steelyman]

Today is my dad's birthday (long gone). I spent most of the day reminiscing with family about him. That's the kind of stuff you do when you retire.

Wish a happy (and show some respect, please).

I should have added "share your stories", this isn't about me.

 

[Bestwifeever]

You were lucky to have had such a father, and lucky to have others to reminisce about him with. We always toast DH's parents when he and his siblings get together a couple of times a year--that they are so close after six decades is a testament to their parents.

 

[bbbamI]

This past Tuesday was my daddy's 81st birthday. I surprised him with a visit...he lives two states away. Normally he always knows when we're coming for a visit. Just had to bring some birthday cake and party favors don't ya know.

The love will continue forever...

Happy birthday to our dads.

 

[steelyman]

That's great (both of you). i'll post a couple of stories we talked about in the next day or two, but I like traveling two states over to see your dad. Mine jumped on a plane to go to the east coast to make sure I wouldn't kill myself with my behavior.

Happy Birthday, Papi bbbami!

 

[davemartin88]

Nice memories, nice idea for the surprise visit! My dad died over 30 years ago but still think about him, mostly when I spend time in the workshop as I learned a lot from watching him.

A couple of years ago, I had a bit of a shock when I realized that I'm now older than my dad was when he died- I never thought of him as old so that's a good thing I guess.

 

[Nodak]

If my father were still alive he would be 114 this year. He was 48 when I was born.

 

[Lisa99]

My DH made a surprise visit to my dad yesterday and had lunch with him and my stepmom.

DH's 30th high school reunion was this weekend in a town far from where we live. My dad happens to live in the same town. Due to work, at the last minute I was unable to go to the reunion with DH.

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from DH telling me he'd taken dad and stepmom to lunch and spent the afternoon with them. They're doing well and missed seeing me.

DH is such a great guy!

 

[steelyman]

I've got one for you.

My grandparents came from Europe post-WWI. They built a house in near-west Chicago and that's where my dad grew up. These were mainly what I think are called Georgian-style brick houses and are now set close together. When they built it, though, most of the area south was farmland and animals used to come around. One big black cat came and roamed around (but not in) the house. My dad thought he was the best.

He also got a little puppy who lived there. In that area, there are alleys in between the houses (I guess for city maintenance and trash pickup). That puppy somehow got into the alley and a big dog came and was going to mess with it. The black cat put it into high gear, jumped the fence, and landed on the big dog, claws out, and rode him down the alley.

My dad never forgot that and continued to love animals.

 

[ohyes]

These are great stories and I hope this thread grows and grows. My parents are both still on earth. My dad and I do not see eye-to-eye on much, but he is one heck of a human being.

As a youngster, I soooo wanted a playhouse. My dad, a rice and soybean farmer with cattle and quarter horses, and who worked all the time, never built one. He got the idea to move his "welding shed" to our back yard. Wish i could describe it. Probably about 100 square feet. It had corrugated metal for a roof---in a half circle. Who knows how many hours I spent in there. Loved my playhouse!!

Every Sunday, my brother and I would sit in Dad's lap as he read us the "funny papers".

Here is to all our dads. Thanks, Steelyman.

 

[Dawg52]

My Dad passed away in 2003. There are a lot of good memories, like the days we went flying in a plane he rebuilt almost from scratch. It was a little single engine 4 seater job. I was probably 8 or 9 years old at the time. Got a couple of pictures of the plane hanging in my den today. And I remember the days he would drop me off at the golf course on to way to work. He caddied as a kid and loved the game, but couldn't play due to his rheumatoid arthritis. I think he got to play one time with me when he was having a good day. Unfortunately, the disease took it's toll on him. He was diagnosed with RA at the age of 25. I remember him always having swollen knees and having to go to the doctor to have the knees drained. A tough way to live, but he still stayed pretty active.

So good memories, but some sad ones too.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

My Dad would have been 108 this past July (I am 59) and I think of him in some way every day. He was an extrovert, "never met a stranger", and had a lot of funny witticisms, some of which I still use prefaced by "as my father used to say". A friend gave a pretty little diary a couple of years ago and encouraged me to start writing them down for my son, who never knew him.

He used to take me with him on his ambles around town to places like junk yards, ethnic markets that sold things like cow's heads and pig's feet and olives in barrels, to bars where I sat on the stool next to him and had a Shirley Temple (don't tell your mother!), and to visit his friends...some of whom were decidedly colorful characters.

 

[ChiliPepr]

My father just turned 74 last Wednesday... We talked on the phone and will be getting together for dinner soon, my parents only lives a couple miles away....

But, I think he got the best birthday gift he could hope for... He shot a 73 on his 74th birthday. (regulation golf course, carrying his own clubs)

 

[pb4uski]

Please, please enjoy your dads while you can. We had a lot of great times together and I miss him immensely.

The saving grace was that he passed quickly in his sleep while many with the disease he had (lung cancer) suffer for a long time. The tragedy was that since he was supposed to be home from the hospital in "a couple days" I hadn't rushed to see him and missed the opportunity.

 

[Asher Aion]

My father passed away 20 years ago next February. My DS returned from college for CDN Thanksgiving this past weekend. One thing that will forever stick in my mind is talking to DS as adult to adult about my father, whom he had never met. Everyone else had gone to bed and we just passed the time talking. I know that I am blessed to have positive memories, both old and new.
Cheers

 

[steelyman]

This is both about dad and granddad. It was the latter's birthday and we were all going to dinner. Dad had bought a nice Zippo lighter as a present and gave it to him.

Granddad was driving and we kids were in the back seat acting ridiculous as always. He lit a smoke, waved the Zippo in the air to extinguish the flame like a match, then threw it out the open car window.

We were hysterical. Dad just smiled.

 

[NanoSour]

He shot a 73 on his 74th birthday. (regulation golf course, carrying his own clubs)

May be time to hang up the clubs and go out on top. That's quite an accomplishment.

 

[Koolau]

My dad was a wonderful man. Generous, kind, a man of service to others.

He did have a few rough edges that my mom grew to accept - for the most part. A story about Harry Truman (which could be total here-say) would have fit my dad.

Supposedly, Harry Truman was talking about farming and explaining the role of manure on soil.

''You should tell the president to say fertilizer,'' a friend told Mrs. Truman.

And Mrs. Truman replied: ''You don't know how long it took me to get him to say manure.''

Happy (belated) 107th BD, dad. You are still loved and missed.

 

[Nodak]

I hope all those that still have their parents around will appreciate what a blessing they have. My Mother passed when I was 25 and my Dad when I was 28; I miss them every day.

 

[Dancer373]

My parents are still here. Mother is 89 and father 93 and both are in pretty good health living independently in a nice retirement community. The one thing I will forever thank my father for is the lessons about money and living within your means. Also the super table word games and corny jokes I realize how fortunate I am to still have them both.

 

[imoldernu]

He used to take me with him on his ambles around town to places like junk yards, ethnic markets that sold things like cow's heads and pig's feet and olives in barrels, to bars where I sat on the stool next to him and had a Shirley Temple (don't tell your mother!), and to visit his friends...some of whom were decidedly colorful characters.

+1 on the bars and pigs feet... Sportsman's Club... Shirley Temple and sour pickle and a nickel for the juke box.
He would have been 106, but passed away at 56. The old morality... I never heard him swear, tell a lie, or denigrate anyone... 'cept he used to call bad people "buggers", though I'm sure he had no idea of the meaning. A member of the Textile Workers' Union along with my mom. In those days, '40's and '50's, much of the social life revolved around the textile factory workers workplace. Plays, softball games, picnics, holiday parties etc. They also went to the "Bug Club"... short for the "Military Order of the Cooties".... private night club in Central Falls. I was the kid in A Christmas Story... Flagpole, Santa Claus, Flat tire, Furnace "clinker", BB gun and all... Except my dad didn't swear!

Thanks for a nice thread.

 

[steelyman]

One time I was in New Orleans for the first time. This was about 9 years ago. I was staying on Bourbon and was a little intimidated and lost.

I have a sibling who went there many times so I called and asked "where do I go?". They said "where are you?". I said "Bourbon and Orleans". They said "you know Mom and Dad had their honeymoon dinner right by you at Court Of Two Sisters. It's on Royal. Go there."

So I did, and I told them about the honeymoon. They gave me souvenirs to send to Mom that she loved. I don't even remember the food but it didn't matter!

 

[dtbach]

Still have both parents. Dad will turn 93 next month. I try to see him at least twice a week (live a few blocks away) to keep an eye out on him and to just enjoy having a small talk.

He is a WWII vet and there aren't many of them around anymore. He would never talk about it much when we were young so I'm coaxing stories out of him and writing them down. Many of them amaze me and I'm so glad he is willing to share them now.

 

[steelyman]

Here's how my dad got to early retirement. He was different than me.

Dad was a chemist, graduating from Roosevelt University in the 50s. Not long after getting his degree, he and a chemist friend decided they wanted to try setting up a small chemical company startup in Mississippi. Off they went, wives in tow.

Things didn't work out (and I don't think they had bargained for summers in the Gulf region), but they were there long enough to have their first baby - my oldest sibling. They came back to Chicago and Dad took a position as a staff chemist at a more traditional, established company. He stayed with them his entire career and worked his way up to becoming a director of a research lab.

He'd hired two young guys he thought the world of: bright, motivated, likely good future with the company. One day he got word from upper management that due to budgetary constraints he had to let one of them go. Nothing to do with performance. He had to choose which.

He agonized over this for a few weeks then hit upon a solution: he retired! Both guys kept their jobs, and he got to move on and do things he enjoyed: relaxation, a little short travel, cooking, beer, and lots of time hanging out with the dogs.

I have a friend who is Chinese and a lifelong practicing Buddhist. One of the most peaceful people I know. I told him this and he listened quietly. When I was done, he just sat back, smiled, and said, "That's good karma".

 

[steelyman]

Here's a Thanksgiving one, hopefully appropriate:

I was in graduate school and got this handsome Maine Coon cat as a stray. I went to spend the holiday weekend with my parents who had a friendly Shepherd/Lab dog.

The dog used to cozy up next to my dad while they watched TV, dad in his chair and the dog on the floor. The stairway upstairs was right behind them.

I showed up with my kitty who very soon learned to crouch on the stairs and leap down randomly on the dog. Then they'd run around and the family was in an uproar. My dad hated it but I thought it was funny.

So, post-dinner there were lots of leftovers. I hung out in the kitchen talking to Dad while he carved them up to put in the fridge. At one point, we noticed this little paw groping around the table trying to snag a piece. The cat was sitting on a chair under the table but thought he was Very Clever and Undetectable. I thought he was Very Hilarious and we cracked up.

This was a four day visit and my parents put a baby gate up to keep the dog out of the room where I was sleeping with my cat. But of course I had to load up and leave, so the gate was down.

I went back up for one last check to make sure I had everything. I looked in the litter box and there, big as you please, was this pile of dog poop. A parting gift for the kitty!

We laughed about that for a long time

 

[Sarah in SC]

Steely, I loved your story about your Dad's retirement. And the kitty, too.
As this is the season I complain loudest about my family, this serves as a good reminder to be grateful for still having them around to complain about.