 |
| Insanity doesn't run in our family. It gallops. |
I lost my father 12 years ago, but plenty of colorful memories survive. He was a kind and gentle man, a great husband and father, and the most creative and funniest man I've ever known or hope to know.
He was a gifted writer, an award-winning painter, prolific cartoonist, part-time inventor (with multiple patents, including the one for the yo-yo seen with the bikini babe above), successful entrepreneur, and flamboyant cross-dresser. Okay, he wasn't actually that last one, although he was certainly willing to wear whatever Easter outfit he thought would give others a laugh.
Of the many gifts he bestowed, it is likely that this desire to make others laugh (and a delightfully skewed view of the world) is what has influenced me most. In every way imaginable, I'm my father's son and glad to be so.
So here's a big Stilton's Place cheer not just for my dad, but for all dads who invest their lives and love doing so much for their families.
22 comments:
My Dad should have worn a shirt with a big S on the chest. He was one of the great Dads who did not get dumb while I was a teenager, and suddenly grow wise as I became a young adult. Served in WWII, and passed on Veterans Day
you were so blessed. happy father's day.
Pretty sure he is smiling down upon ya Doc .......and proud of what ya have done with the tools he left ya .....
Dad is still with us.... A WWII Marine who served on Okinawa with twin brother ......A Good Man and that is some mighty high praise I can only hope someone says about me some day....
My dad gas been gone 16 years now, I miss him everyday and probably will for the rest of my life.
My dad was also a WWII veteran, Pacific theater. He was a great father, wise to the ways of troublesome teenagers, but kind and clever. One Halloween when my best buddy and I were on our way out the door, too old to trick-or-treat and too young to drive, he asked what we were up to. We honestly said we were going to soap windows, blow up pumpkins and throw eggs. He said that sounds like fun, but be that anything which happened to our house would be my duty to clean up the next day. The next day was a nightmare for me, cleaning a couple of dozen eggs off the siding of our house. I never knew until his funeral that he had bought the eggs and paid the three neighbor boys to plaster our house with them. Brilliant. I never egged a house again.
No matter how busy he was at work, he always made it to my swim meets and high school basketball games. He will have been gone 20 years this August and I think about him and miss him daily. I thank him for my successes and for the wisdom to deal with my setbacks.
We buried my father just about 20 years ago today. He as a Pacific WWII vet, and was battlefield commissioned. He was a farmer and cattleman who's own father died when he was five, at which time he started doing a man's work, including hand milking a bunch of cows every morning before school. I don't know how he managed to not wring my neck on the many occasions I had it coming. Need to sign off now, and head two hours north for the memorial service for my mother, who passed 3 months ago. We delayed it until many far-flung cousins were able to attend. They all knew her because they spent much of their summers on the farm, where my mother had to deal with them along with her own brood in a house with no plumbing and a cob-burning cook stove.
My father was a "double veteran"; WWII Navy, Korean War Army. He's been gone nearly 28 years now, and I still miss him and honor his memory every day. Stilt, I'd say you and I and most other of your readers were blessed with strong, decent fathers. Otherwise, most of us wouldn't have made it without winding up in prison---or worse. *heh!* I think we'd have really liked your father (and I'm glad your mother didn't kill him after that photo with the bikini-clad model!)
My father was a WWII Vet; Army Air Corps. 88 bombing missions in the European Theater & 110 missions in the Burma,India, China Theater (flying over "The Hump"). He was/is my Hero. He's been gone 32 years this August 18th. I miss him every day. I'm not 1/2 the man he was. Happy Fathers Day to all.
It makes me both sad and joyous to read all the tributes to fathers which popped up on Facebook, here and elsewhere. Sad, because the father who biologically birthed me decided to hit the road when I was 3 days old and joyous because I lovingly remember the man who stepped in to fill that role - my grandfather. He was the kindest, most loving man I have ever met and I still miss him dearly. He died of a ruptured aneurism and was buried on Christmas Eve, 1968, just one month short of his 65th birthday and the retirement he had so long coveted. My own son was born the following October and my daughter a couple of years later. I so lament he never got to know them and they missed out on this wonderful man. I learned my "real" father passed away in the 80s and I could not care less. All I got from him was DNA.
My pappy was a WWII vet,tpp....a swabbo...was on the Indianapolis and transferred off the boat just beforemit sank....PTL....but Stilton....thoughnhe has been ‘gone’ since July 1990, he is always with me....in fact, I talk to him every day.....every morning at 8 am CT......just a habit....he listens and sometimes shows me things. SHRUG. Dude....not Dad....never DAD...was a graduate of the Class of 1946,went to Henry Ford Trade School, was an xray/lab tech at a small hospital,in southeastern Michigan, got his BS and MS from universities in the same area.....He taught science and math at a racially unstable HS in Ypsilanti for well over 35 yrs.......and he still kept his second job as a rad tech in the afternoons and overnights.
You maynhave lost his physicality but younwillnever lose his love nor he yours.......❤️💕❤️💕😘
Happy Father's Day, Stilton and thank you for sharing your father's memory with us. I know he was proud of you in life and is looking down from his eternal rest smiling at the laughter you continue to bring.
You help make the accidental insanity of the world better with your intentional satire of it.
Thank you
Do miss my dad at times, he died about 17 years ago (I am an old fart). He wasn't much of a dad when we were young, wasn't too good with little kids, but he was better when we were older and a great grandfather. He was always there when we needed him, at least, and we always knew he loved us. His father was much the same and I miss him as much or more than my dad. Both very good and kind men who loved their families. Both had a wacked sense of humor which is where I got mine. Glad your dad was a good man, he did produce you! Got to thank God at times for making men like them. Hubby was the same, intelligent, crazy sense of humor, and a man who loved his family.
Missing my Dad who passed 5/22/17 at age 94 and my husband who passed 10/27/16 at age 66. He didn't get to enjoy even 1 day of retirement. They were both great fathers. My late husband became my daughter's "real father", after her biological dad left us when she was 5. Both men were missed greatly yesterday. It is true...You DON'T know what you've got till it's gone...
Ahhh.... back to the days when dads were dads, and not just sperm donors.
My dad, too, was one of the Greatest Generation, joined the Army at the age of 32 despite one leg being shortened by polio as a teen. Fought in Luzon amongst other places in the South Pacific. Came home, got married, raised my brother and I (he was 42 when I came along!). He barely ever mentioned his service because, as far as he was concerned, he was just doing what needed to be done so I could grow up free like him. Yup, I miss that guy!
Such a blessing that you have such good memories of your father. In today's deteriorating social structure, there are so many who have none.
I lost my father 10 years ago this year, decades sooner than I should have. I miss the things we had planned to do that we didn't get the chance to, but am grateful for those that we did.
Concerning the yo-yo pic : I missed the yo-yo in action. Thanks for pointing it out to clear up my misconception that your Dad was checking out the babe to see if the drapes matched the carpet. Glad to see your Dad was a Man for all seasons.....
@sergio- Yep, sounds like a superhero to me.
@j- Thank you. Both of my parents were wonderful, and I know how lucky I am.
@REM1875- I'm pretty sure he'd approve of my mischief, and the degree to which it can be directly attributed to his creative mischief. And I'm glad your Dad is still around (and I'm already pretty sure he raised a good man in you).
@Greywuff zfavrr- Our parents are the foundation and firmament of our existence, and their absence is always felt (in my experience, anyway).
@TrickyRicky- I love the Halloween egg story! Thanks so much for sharing memories of your Dad. Sounds like a great man.
@Velveeta Processed Cheese Food- My condolences on the loss of both of your parents, and hope that there are many positive moments at the reunion/memorial service for your mother. And I don't mean to get all sappy, but my eyes mist when I read that your Dad was a WWII Vet, Pacific theater, who had to start a man's work at age 5. If there's a truer definition of a "man," I'm not sure what it is. Thank you for sharing.
@Jim Lane- Your father gave a lot to our country, and I'm grateful for his service. And yes, I think if we compare notes around here we'll find a lot of us had the benefit of honest-to-gosh fathers who took that role seriously.
And no, my Mom didn't kill my Dad for the bikini-model photo. He'd invented a double-stringed yoyo, and that was a publicity photo to get news services to pick up the story ("You can yoyo with a friend!"). No great success came from the yoyo (or my father's many other inventions), but I think it's worthwhile just for that great picture!
@ringgo1- I'm genuinely slack-jawed reading your father's record. My own Dad didn't serve for medical reasons, but I am awed thinking of that generation of heroes.
@Shelly- My Dad's biological father also skipped out (never married to my Dad's mother) and my father was eventually raised by his grandparents, whom he loved deeply. Clearly Life gave you the father figure you deserved rather than saddle you with the DNA donor.
@Anonymous- Your pappy sounds like an amazing man. And yes, our relationship with our parents doesn't end with death. I commune with my parents mentally on a regular basis. And these days, I can't look into a mirror without seeing my Dad looking back at me.
@Tots- Thanks so much for the nice words. My Dad brought happiness to everyone with his off-center sense of humor. I'm very pleased by our similarities, which only grow over time. A little frighteningly so, even (grin).
@mamafrog- Sounds like you've enjoyed some very good men in your life. Thanks for sharing!
@Sue- My condolences about the loss of your husband (and Dad, of course). Father's Day is clearly bittersweet for many of us - although I guess that's true of pretty much every holiday as we age and Fate takes its toll on those around us. Fortunately, the "sweet" outweighs the "bitter" in time.
@Colby Muenster- Your phrase "when dads were dads and not just sperm donors" really gives me a pang. I saw that Target got into some trouble for offering a "Baby Daddy" card for black couples on Father's Day. That term (and "Baby Mama," for that matter) offend the living hell out of me.
@John the Econ- I don't want to get too deeply into the fact that our society is being decimated by the lack of real fathering, but it's undeniable. Between the "Great Society" destruction of minority families and the elite Left's disparagement of all things manly, our nation's kids are being hurt badly.
I'm sorry that you lost your Dad prematurely, but glad you've got good memories of the time you were able to share with him.
@Regnad Kcin- The double-stringed yoyo never really caught on, perhaps because it never worked very well and you couldn't do any tricks with it. Well, other than getting to pose with bikini models. Still, my Dad was able to license it to a number of companies who sold variations of it. Or tried to (grin).
@vivici,
Thanks! I never knew before that viagra could obat my kuat asli! This has transformed my life and I am forever grateful!
As a return favor, I'll suggest you perform aviated coitus with a rotating perforated pastry, but only after you obat your kuat with Viagra asli.
Indonesian Viagra! How bad could it really be?
Post a Comment