My Dad

I hope Dad's everywhere had a wonderful Father's Day. I know I did. I don't want to go into much detail right now since I have some pictures to share, but I haven't uploaded them yet. It wasn't way different than many of my Sunday's in that I went for a bike ride, visited The Son, and later The Son dropped by for steaks and corn on the cob and to exchange gifts and cards. So a good time.

Since I'll get to my own Father's Day later, I'll share some memories of my own dad.

1. He's 79 this year.
2. He was too young to fight in WWII and was out of the Navy by the time Korea rolled around. For that I'm grateful.
3. He was a Seabee.
4. He married his high school sweetheart. We lost her 23 years ago and it still hurts.
5. He was married and had three kids by the time he was 23. I can't even conceive of having 3 kids (all one year apart) at that age.
6. He worked days at a gas station and went to college at night.
7. He worked for Ma Bell as did his daughter (my sister) and our grandfather (Mom's Dad).
8. He was very tolerant for letting me tag along when he went out to play his games be it semi-pro baseball, bowling or golf.
9. He was a natural athlete, a trait that unfortunately did not flow down to his sons.
10. He could have signed a minor league baseball contract coming out of high school.
11. He was a volunteer fireman.
12. No matter what job he was doing around the house or on one of our cars, he always seemed to scrape his hand and/or finger.
13. He was mine and my brother's baseball coach for years. Until I almost 15 anyway.
14. While coaching our Little league team, he recommended switching this big, slightly overweight kid from first base to pitcher. The kid went on to pitch in the Mets farm system.
15. He always took my sister, brother and I into NY city on Christmas eve to the office building on Broadway where he worked. We would eat cookies and cake and play with the adding machines. The train ride into the city was the highlight.
16. My Dad loves model trains. Until he retired he never had the time (see three kids) to set them up properly. Now he has trains in the bedrooms of his house and in the dining room. He' also a member of a railroad club in the Orlando area.
17. My dad has never remarried, but he's had the same gf for probably 18 years now. We all like her. She's been good for him and vica versa.
18. He still drives minivan even though he hasn't had kids at home for 30 years. He says it so he can haul big items - like plywood for setting up train layouts. To my knowledge he has never hauled plywood.
19. He is the first generation of the family that went to college.
20. His father immigrated from Glasgow and his Mom from Aberdeen, Scotland.
21. He grew up in the same house in NJ all his life (I think).
22. He loved the NY Giants (baseball and football).
23. He was really proud when my brother went into the Navy.
24. He used to own a really nice boat when we lived in Maryland and lived a short ride from the Chesapeake Bay. It was a treat to eat crabs out on the boat as the sun set in the west.
25. I hate that he lives 800 miles away and I only get to see him a few days every year.