Wondering about my Dad.

As far as I am concerned (and I am sure a lot of other people who knew him well will attest to) he was the greatest guy in the world!!  He was kind and gentle all the time with appearances of rough and hard and mean when needed.  The latter was almost always an act except when someone endangered his family.  An outdoors man and an avid hunter and fisherman, he was as much at home in nature as he was with people; treated them both with respect.  He was an active Church member who got involved helping where ever he was needed.  He was also active in a couple of fraternal organizations and loved by all.  I have never heard a negative comment about my Dad and never will.  It was a real shock to my life that on the way home from church one day he had a heart attack and died later that day.  I was not at church that day and will never forgive myself.  He was taken from this earth at a young age of 60.  He had been out hunting the day before and the day before that he had brought home an Old Town canoe he had found in a friends barn.  Already had a Kennebec and he always wanted an old Old Town.  I have a lot of regrets, mostly that I didn’t believe that I lived up to his expectations, although I know that he loved me.  He was a better person than I ever was or could be.

We all had or have fathers and some of you probably still have your fathers here on Earth.  Make sure you let them know that you are thankful for them giving you life and keeping you on the straight and narrow.  Fathers would do almost anything for their families. 

I will leave you with a picture of my Dad holding me at or near the end of WW2 with his prized 12 cylinder Lincoln:

Now, all you Dads out there, have a specially great day today, you hear?