Father to Son

Based upon a nice little post by Blue Girl, I thought I'd rip her off and talk about Father's Day. (Not too proud to steal from fellow bloggers, that's me!)

My father never went to college, although he had an opportunity to. The town he grew up in had kind of an anti-college sentiment. I think that he always regretted that; although I had a job as a draftsman before I graduated from high school, he insisted that I go to college, somewhere, for something.

I'm lucky that I had the opportunity to thank him for that.

He (and my mother, for that matter) were both blue collar workers for most of their lives. We were what is now known as 'latch key kids' although at the time, no such terms existed. Our parents worked, because a middle class lifestyle costs. My dad always worked on projects around the house, and while he may not have been a craftsman, he kept the toilets flushing and the house painted. DIY was the order of the day, because tradesman were expensive. Since he worked in the plumbing industry, sometimes he could get a favor from a contractor when things were really SNAFU.

I got a serious work ethic from my Dad as well as a love for beer. I'm glad I didn't pick up his smoking habit, but he quit too when his doctor told him that something had to go. I also got a distrust of politicians, while at the same time realizing that Democrats, by and large were the only ones that cared about people like my family, even if only some of the time. He once confided to me that he was worried that my brother might have voted for Tommy Thompson.

He taught me the value of hard work, and the integrity of honest work, but also that work and money don't meant much if you can't enjoy them.

He also helped us all develop a love of animals. Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, snakes and lizards too (although Mom wasn't too keen on the last two) were all fair game. He always loved dogs, in particular a toy poodle named Chauncey that they got after I left home.

He had the best of all possible roles as a grandfather; my brother and his girlfriend had a baby girl, but when their relationship didn't work, my brother moved back with my parents and Mom and Dad helped raise her. That little girl graduated high school last weekend and is going to UW-Madison.

He was proud as hell when I started college in engineering. It didn't sit too well when I changed majors, but eventually it was OK. I married an engineer, so he still had an engineer in the family.

Dad passed away in 2003, and I still miss him, especially at times like last night, when my son received his Black Belt in Taekwondo, or last week when his little league team played Helfaer field in front of Miller Park.

I loved my Dad.