Sunday, June 17, 2007

Father's Day

Spent much of the day getting ready to see my Dad, travelling to him, spending time with him and then driving back. All in all, 2 hours with him out of 8 hours!


Got some photos of him using my new nokia cell phone. Now I have to learn how to upload them to my computer.

However, what was important to me today was that in writing a few lines to him in his Father's Day card, I was reminded of how much I owe him. More often my thoughts & memories are of what he didn't do or some "bad" things that he did.

Over lunch he told Barbara and I that he'd lived a happy life. He shared some memories and stories (that I've heard many times before).

Dad, here are some of mine- the best of what I remember growing up. I remember in grade school doing homework assignments with you. Particularly math. You'd sit down at the table after dinner with a yellow legal pad and write out 20 problems for me to solve. Then we'd work on them together. Almost always an impatient man, I remember you as being very patient with me at those times.

I remember very cold mornings waiting in the car for our swimming workout to begin, that you'd drop my brother and I off on your way to work. When we swam in the evenings you'd be there to pick us up- for years. And you were there at our swim meets, often working as a timer.
You were so very concerned that Albert, Nicole and I learn to swim...fearful of us drowning in a pool somewhere.

Then there was the weekend I tried out for a job as a lifeguard at Laguna Beach. You drove us down, cheered me on and brought me back home at the end of the day. I made it in terms of meeting all the standards but...was about 50 or a 100 on a list of 20-some openings. I didn't make the cut. Yet you never made me feel bad about that. In fact you were proud that I'd tried and done so well. I can remember you telling people many times over the years about that experience.

As an engineer and machinist you taught me how to draw up a plan and then build to that plan. Teaching me how to hammer nails, use wrenches and screwdrives and how to saw wood correctly- after measuring it twice! There was the fence, patio and sidewalk we built for our first home in Fullerton from scratch. From picking up loads of gravel and sand, to mixing our own concrete, "trucking" it out to the forms we'd built and leveled, pouring it in place and then smoothing it out. Oh yeah, and cleaning out the concrete mixer at the end of the day. Those skills and others have helped me to build a half-dozen patios, landscape yards, plant trees, paint homes & apartments. To do what needed to be done around the house except for serious plumbing or electrical work.

You encouraged me in my love of reading and science from kindergarten or first grade. I got chemistry sets, a microscope, telescope and trips to the natural history museum as gifts. I got to stay up late and watch the moon through my telescope. (In summer of course and only when school was out.) Then there were the many Saturdays you dropped me off at the Orange library on your way to work or other chores.

You believed in right and wrong and instilled that in me. Today we have very different views about politics, to the point that we really can't discuss our views. Yet we share the same passion about politics and justice.

When I started my recruiting company in Ventura you were proud of me and told me so. You enjoyed visiting and sleeping aboard my sailboat. And when it came time to move on, to close that business down, you commiserated with me.

As I sit here now, I wonder...just how much more could be expected of a man? Were you perfect? No, far from it. You were a human being, trying to support your family and still reaching for the brass ring. I know you were terribly disappointed by your own business failures, many times.

And yet today...you still try. Your mind is active and creative and still dreams up new ideas and inventions. You're disappointed by your failures and lack of financial success but...YOU KEEP TRYING.

I admire you for that. I admire that you went to university at the age of 30, 48 years ago! with a newborn son, and for 5 years worked hard and graduated at the top of your class. You wanted to be an engineer, loved engineering, loved to solve complex difficult problems. When I meet other engineers, I compare them to you. Dad, you are the BEST engineer I know.

So for me, today has been a wonderful Father's Day. The best of my Dad lives on in my memory and in me. And I'm glad that I can appreciate him for who he was & is and for all the good that he has given me.

Dad, I'm proud of you. And... I love you.

Say hi to your dad. He deserves it.

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