Friday Feature . . . Father's Day

* Happy Father’s Day * 

To all the dads, papas, grandfathers & Great-grandfathers.

From the time I was a child until the day my father passed away, I always gave him a gift; sometimes big but most of the time some small token of my appreciation for all he did for me. When I was just a child, my mother would select something for him and tell dad it was from me. That was fine until I had a little money of my own and I chose his gift.
 

I can’t begin to tell you how many boxes of cigars I bought him, until the day he stopped smoking them. Then the pipe graced his lips from which a sweet-smelling cherry tobacco claimed the air that encircled his head. That, too, came to an end and it was getting progressively more difficult to find a gift for him. Of course, there were the neck ties, handkerchiefs, wallets, cologne, books, and tools.

My dad loved tools. Some of those tools are still in the basement and a precious few in our Family Museum. When I touch them, I can still feel his presence. I wish I had more.  

In a previous post, I wrote about my dad’s career in the Navy. He will never read it and that makes me very sad. It is one of those things that many of us need to do . . . write, record, whatever method you care to use . . . and save your father’s words, his voice, his memories.

Why? Because,

“I promise that if you will keep journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to use and as our posterity reads of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted.”                   Madeleine L’Engle