he worked hard
took care of his family
instilled work ethic in his children
and was the center of our family......
Dad had keen ability for sensing what I was feeling at times. He would comment to me before I had even said anything about something bothering me. He told me not to be so hard on myself. He told me he would miss me when I left home. He told me I would get an experience like no other place when I went to work in the Big Apple. We seemed to be on the same wavelength a lot of the time.
As Father's Day was approaching, I had Dad on my mind a lot. I thought of the times he went to battle for me and the times he just put up with me.
The just put up with was anything from:
-his daughter in the second grade volunteering her Dad to make hundred's of copies of cards we needed for school (was I crazy to do that without asking him first???).
-taking his HS Freshman daughter to a Father-Daughter Dance run by the nuns
-quizzing his daughter for a Biology exam late into the night and then noticing it had started to snow and the exam would probably be postponed anyway
-teaching me how to drive (I was an awful student) ....in this instance he did pass the lessons over to Mom until the day of my road test and then he took me for the final test drive
The times he went to battle for me were more memorable and in this day and age probably would not be tolerated:
-after my 5th grade teacher embarrassed me in front of the class and made me cry, Dad wrote a letter to the teacher. She took it to the Board of Education lawyers stating it was a threat on her life. LOL....all Dad said was her actions would not be tolerated again....
-when I was a HS Senior, my brother and I bought a car together (yes, we shared a car). Dad took me to DMV. The lady who took care of me was really rude to me not aware it was my Dad standing behind me (I think she thought he was the next person on line). Dad had finally heard enough and asked to speak with the office manager. By the time the conversation with the manager was through, he lead us to the license plate room. He told us I could pick out any license plates I wanted, Dad and I had a great time walking up and down the rows looking at different license plates trying to decide which ones I wanted. I ended up picking out 66RNI....funny how I still remember that plate number but can't remember the license plate on the SUV in my driveway right now!!
- Dad was not one to let his anger show quickly or often but one time a neighbor made a nasty remark about me to Dad. Her comment was not really warranted either. Dad stood there calmly and called for my brother, George. He then instructed George to tie a piece of rope from the bumper of his car to our neighbors fence. (I guess our neighbor had forgotten that for years her fence sat on our property.) When dad gave the word, my brother drive down the street dragging the fence in question behind him. A few weeks later a new fence was placed on our neighbors property. My Dad did strongly suggest they make sure it was on their property or it would be removed again.
He taught me how to stand up for myself . He taught me work ethic. He taught me about having a sense of family and that family came first.
He taught me......
He was my mentor and my hero.....
See you next week.......
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