Saturday, March 17, 2012
My Father wasn’t lucky enough to have a dad growing up. His father was killed while he was only an infant. My grandmother had the strong support of her family (the Gregg’s) but I can only imagine the difficulty growing up without a father.
Without a firsthand blueprint on “how to be a father” to work from but rather the wisdom and insight from his uncles, I have to say he did a pretty good job, some might say stellar, but Dave has his moments!! LOL . Always nurturing and supportive, critical when he needed to be but was always there.
In 1979 Dad had his first series of heart attacks, he was 45… I was only 12. I remember thinking what am I going to do without my Dad? As time passed I was hoping he would be there for milestones as they came to be…graduating, getting married, and having children of my own, his grandchildren. He didn’t let me down… he never did.
It wasn’t easy either; heart attacks that we guess number in the teens, 7 bypasses, bovine heart valve, titanium rod in his leg, failed kidneys, built in defibulator/pacemaker. My wife affectionately nicknamed him the “Energizer Bunny” and “The Terminator” because nothing seemed to stop him.
Unfortunately nothing lasts forever. But I am grateful that I had him for so many years as I did. I can only hope that I transcend the wisdom that he gave to me onto my children.
My Father wasn’t lucky enough to have a dad growing up… but he made damn sure that I would. I love you Dad.
