Patterico's Pontifications

6/18/2017

Happy Father’s Day!

Filed under: General — Dana @ 12:59 pm



[guest post by Dana]

To all the dads here, a most happy day in honor of you! What a uniquely important role you fill in the lives of your children. And whether those children are small or grown, a dad is always just that. You are invaluable, and always will be as you do your best to steer your kids down the right path, example to them how to take the high road in life, work diligently to train them up in the way they should go, and love them like no other can. You are their safety net until you pass on from this life. Even if that’s when they themselves are middle-aged adults.

And a shout-out to my own dad, who never met a dirt road that didn’t call him to go around the next bend, who not only tried very hard to teach me what an oscilloscope actually does but also taught me to spell it correctly, who taught me how to scuba dive, how to use a sextant (which I still don’t understand), who showed me how to make sukiyaki, who introduced me to the wonders of The Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper, who demonstrated the patience of Job as he tutored me in Mathematics, who always made sure his family had a roof over our head, food on the table, and a warm bed to sleep in, and who instilled in me a work ethic that has never wavered, and reassured me that, at a certain point in life, we all find ourselves struggling in the middle of a dark tunnel, but to be of courage and faith because God will be with us in the middle of that darkness and will be the spark of light to follow and hold onto as we make our way out together. While in no way resembling a traditional “father,” mine is instead a force to simultaneously be reckoned with, hidden from, clung to, and everything in between. In other words, he’s mine, and for that I am eternally grateful.

–Dana

17 Responses to “Happy Father’s Day!”

  1. That is a wonderful salute to a beloved father, Dana. Thank you for sharing his story with us.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  2. Greetings:

    One of my favorite memories of my father was a two week vacation the two of us took as a result of my Fenimore Cooper readings. We went all around upstate New York and Vermont visiting all those forts and battle sites and Lakes George and Champlain with absolutely no female supervision and yet somehow we survived.

    11B40 (6abb5c)

  3. My favorite memory of my father is thankfully preserved for all time.

    We did a ‘shakedown’ cruise on a sailboat and at the time video cameras were just becoming affordable. I’d gotten one and secured it to deck above the cabin, pointed it back toward the stern by the tiller and let it run as we talked about random stuff; nothing in particular and just sailed along. Mundane father/son conversation from over 30 years ago. He’s been dead 17 years– but I play it every Father’s Day. It’s priceless to me.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  4. My dad turned 90 today and shot 87. His twin brother shot 89. Those two have had quite the life together. Some people still can’t tell them apart. Hunting and fishing with those two taught me how to survive. Can’t wait till fall to sit in the blind and shoot some mallards.

    mg (31009b)

  5. @5. That’s awesome, mg. Truly.

    Gotta ask– do they mostly walk the links as exercise or ride a cart for back-up– regardless, it’s wonderful.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  6. They always walked, but now they ride. My Dad walks 2-4 miles a day at the farm. Those two were scratch golfers into their 60’s.
    Appreciate the thoughts, DCSA.

    mg (31009b)

  7. @7. That’s great, mg. Wonderful. Speaks volumes. Hope they break into the high 70’s— at 100!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  8. I would never bet against those two.

    mg (31009b)

  9. Tonight’s London is either payback or intra-Mus-al.

    urbanleftbehind (6a358f)

  10. Wrong thread, Happy Fathers Day. A guy who I held the door for at the Chinese buffet had an armsling oxygen tank, which made me think of Rev. Hoagie. With regard to my own father, I would have been happy as he’ll to go with him and my uncle down to the paygate at the old USX South Works, cash the check and sneak some sips of beer and go to KFC and have are biweekly Sunday meal.

    urbanleftbehind (6a358f)

  11. Happy fathers day,

    Could be the former.

    narciso (d1f714)

  12. 10
    At this point, it’s a case of “those that know are not talking, those who talk don’t know”

    At any rate, a woman’s view of Father’s Day.
    http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2017/06/happy-fathers-day.html

    kishnevi (7c7aed)

  13. My favorite memory of my father is thankfully preserved for all time.

    We did a ‘shakedown’ cruise on a sailboat and at the time video cameras were just becoming affordable. I’d gotten one and secured it to deck above the cabin, pointed it back toward the stern by the tiller and let it run as we talked about random stuff; nothing in particular and just sailed along. Mundane father/son conversation from over 30 years ago. He’s been dead 17 years– but I play it every Father’s Day. It’s priceless to me.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/18/2017 @ 3:28 pm

    So, as I have long suspected, you are human after all. The one artifact I’d race into my burning house to retrieve is the last gift my dad gave me. We ribbed each other as he made a career out of the Coast Guard and I served my twenty in the Navy. So the last gift I got from him was a bottle opener that played Semper Paratus. The battery is long since dead, but I’d rather risk my life than have a new one.

    If there were to be a second, I’d also rescue my naval officer’s sword that my parents’ gave me upon my commissioning. But no questioning, if I had to choose one over the other, it’s the Semper Paratus bottle opener even though it doesn’t sing any more. And if any of you think I must be a drunk for making this choice, HELLO!

    I have like three pocket knives with bottle openers. That’s not the point. My dad gave it to me.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  14. …Can’t wait till fall to sit in the blind and shoot some mallards.

    mg (31009b) — 6/18/2017 @ 3:30 pm

    Savor it, mg. My “hunting uncle” died in 2003. My dad who introduced me to trout fishing died in 2014. And he was long gone before then.

    Hunker down, mg.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWyjL25bTOA

    US Coast Guard Song – “Semper Paratus!”

    Damn, I miss that old man. Giving me s*** for joining the wrong service instead of the one that works everyday

    When he died and I had to arrange funeral honors the USCG couldn’t have been better about giving my dad full honors. And when I would even hint at going over the the dark side, the the US Navy, they’d shut me down with the guestion, “but you served?”

    God bless the United States Coast Guard.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)


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