With all this time I have been doing a lot of thinking. This December but will be 9 years since my dad passed away, I think the older I get the more I miss him. He was a hard ass from the generation that never told you they loved you, but damn they showed it.
My dad grew up dirt poor in Southern Ohio, never traveled really anywhere except for a school trip to DC. He had never seen the ocean. He graduated from Eastern Meigs High School in 1960, joined the Air Force and was stationed at Incirlick Air Base in Turkey. The American dollar was so valuable at the time, they could pay a taxi driver $5 and he would take them all over the country for the whole day.
When he and my mom got married in 1964 he took a job at IBM as a typewriter repair man, I think for $450 a month. He told me he took the back seat out of his vw but and put all the tools in there and it would do 70 mph wide open as he drove to DC for training.
He never officially went to college but was one of the smartest men I ever knew, he worked his way up to become a PC specialist, we had the first privately owned PC in the state of NC. If I didn’t hate computers so much because they kept my dad away I would have learned and be a rich man now. Lol.
IBM started downsizing in the early 90’s and he retired with 27 years and full benefits at the age of 49. Which just seems crazy to me, but being there he was bored he went back to work for Guilford county for 14 years.
He made up for time, by attending every sporting event, school event and scouting event that my sons had. I am not sure they know the impact he had on them or them on him.
My sons were 18, 14, & 7 when he passed away, so much has changed since then, that he has not been around for. My oldest is married 27, middle 23, getting married in October, youngest is 16 and a junior in High School.
The boys are all at different seasons of their lives as my wife and I are, and he would have been right there in the middle of it all. He would love the fact that we go hunting at the farm and thet he was able to keep most of it in the family for us and the next generations to enjoy.
Along around 92-93 I was in Ohio visiting my uncle, my dads youngest brother, when I meet a guy that graduated with my dad. He made the comment that meant nothing to me at the time that my dad sure did get lucky with that job at IBM. I told my dad this and he got pissed off, he said lucky he’ll, I was willing to leave.
It took me years to really understand what that meant, here a farm boy who had never been anywhere moved to NC not knowing a soul to make a better life for himself my mom and eventually me.
I wounder how different building my house would have been if he were here. I am sure we would have butted heads, caused each other out, then figured out the problem and had a cold one when the day was done.
I try to explain to my sons that their grandpaw grew up without electricity until he was 5, never had indoor plumbing, the shower and toilet were put in after he had gone into the Air Force. How they hand milked cows every morning before school and every evening. To be honest I am not sure I really understand it.
He always made sure my mom had a safe reliable car, but would never spend much on himself. The truck he had when he died was a 2009 GMC 2500 with rubber floor and no power windows or door locks. I laughed because he kept a screwdriver in the cup holder to reach over and unlock the door when he would pick my boys up. I was like dad, you can afford power windows and door locks.
My parents were always giving people, helping many people but never wanting recognition. Often they didn’t even want the people knowing who helped them.
He was a scoutmaster for 20 years and was a role model for countless boys. Later in life he was the Coast Guard Auxiliary and him and my mother spent every weekend on their pontoon boat at the lake.
People say it gets easier with time, it really doesn’t, as we go through life and the older I get the more I understand him and his ways. The more I understand why he had little tolerance for bullshit. I see how well he let me transition to being my own man, never telling me what I should do or should not do, never pushing his desires on me, but always for damn sure in my corner when I needed help with something or his advice on something.
Now he might question a decision I would make but always told me it was mine to make.
I try to do my best with my boys and often think about what he might have thought about how I disciplined them, he would get upset when I had to get my oldest son if he was acting a fool in a sports game or any other time.
I told dad, he has to learn to listen to me or he will be listening to the police, when he doesn’t know how to control himself.
Well the point is you never know how long you have with your family, blood or not as @giles would say family often isn’t about blood Take the time to man up and tell the ones that are important to you thet you love them, don’t let some dumbass argument or disagreement steal the only thing you can’t get more of, Time.
Here’s to you dad.
My dad grew up dirt poor in Southern Ohio, never traveled really anywhere except for a school trip to DC. He had never seen the ocean. He graduated from Eastern Meigs High School in 1960, joined the Air Force and was stationed at Incirlick Air Base in Turkey. The American dollar was so valuable at the time, they could pay a taxi driver $5 and he would take them all over the country for the whole day.
When he and my mom got married in 1964 he took a job at IBM as a typewriter repair man, I think for $450 a month. He told me he took the back seat out of his vw but and put all the tools in there and it would do 70 mph wide open as he drove to DC for training.
He never officially went to college but was one of the smartest men I ever knew, he worked his way up to become a PC specialist, we had the first privately owned PC in the state of NC. If I didn’t hate computers so much because they kept my dad away I would have learned and be a rich man now. Lol.
IBM started downsizing in the early 90’s and he retired with 27 years and full benefits at the age of 49. Which just seems crazy to me, but being there he was bored he went back to work for Guilford county for 14 years.
He made up for time, by attending every sporting event, school event and scouting event that my sons had. I am not sure they know the impact he had on them or them on him.
My sons were 18, 14, & 7 when he passed away, so much has changed since then, that he has not been around for. My oldest is married 27, middle 23, getting married in October, youngest is 16 and a junior in High School.
The boys are all at different seasons of their lives as my wife and I are, and he would have been right there in the middle of it all. He would love the fact that we go hunting at the farm and thet he was able to keep most of it in the family for us and the next generations to enjoy.
Along around 92-93 I was in Ohio visiting my uncle, my dads youngest brother, when I meet a guy that graduated with my dad. He made the comment that meant nothing to me at the time that my dad sure did get lucky with that job at IBM. I told my dad this and he got pissed off, he said lucky he’ll, I was willing to leave.
It took me years to really understand what that meant, here a farm boy who had never been anywhere moved to NC not knowing a soul to make a better life for himself my mom and eventually me.
I wounder how different building my house would have been if he were here. I am sure we would have butted heads, caused each other out, then figured out the problem and had a cold one when the day was done.
I try to explain to my sons that their grandpaw grew up without electricity until he was 5, never had indoor plumbing, the shower and toilet were put in after he had gone into the Air Force. How they hand milked cows every morning before school and every evening. To be honest I am not sure I really understand it.
He always made sure my mom had a safe reliable car, but would never spend much on himself. The truck he had when he died was a 2009 GMC 2500 with rubber floor and no power windows or door locks. I laughed because he kept a screwdriver in the cup holder to reach over and unlock the door when he would pick my boys up. I was like dad, you can afford power windows and door locks.
My parents were always giving people, helping many people but never wanting recognition. Often they didn’t even want the people knowing who helped them.
He was a scoutmaster for 20 years and was a role model for countless boys. Later in life he was the Coast Guard Auxiliary and him and my mother spent every weekend on their pontoon boat at the lake.
People say it gets easier with time, it really doesn’t, as we go through life and the older I get the more I understand him and his ways. The more I understand why he had little tolerance for bullshit. I see how well he let me transition to being my own man, never telling me what I should do or should not do, never pushing his desires on me, but always for damn sure in my corner when I needed help with something or his advice on something.
Now he might question a decision I would make but always told me it was mine to make.
I try to do my best with my boys and often think about what he might have thought about how I disciplined them, he would get upset when I had to get my oldest son if he was acting a fool in a sports game or any other time.
I told dad, he has to learn to listen to me or he will be listening to the police, when he doesn’t know how to control himself.
Well the point is you never know how long you have with your family, blood or not as @giles would say family often isn’t about blood Take the time to man up and tell the ones that are important to you thet you love them, don’t let some dumbass argument or disagreement steal the only thing you can’t get more of, Time.
Here’s to you dad.
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