Happy Father's Day

Dad in 1940

I was sitting here looking at the calendar and realizing June 15 is Father's Day.  That got me looking at pictures of my father. Dad held a pretty special place in my life.  This was back when most father's worked and most mother's raised the kids.  I remember Dad coming home and doing home work - his own as he went to night school.  We would compare report cards.  I remember the swimming pool he erected each summer and replaced with a skating rink each winter.  I remember trips to Echo Lake on weekends, we would go to feed the ducks and play on the playground.  I remember trips to a lake where we would go swimming.  I remember summer camping trips with the 5 of us in a little rented trailer. Dad was there when I graduated high school, and later college and he gave me away at my wedding.  I wore my mother's wedding dress.
 Dad got to meet all of his grandsons as well as his first great grandson.

Dad putting a penny in my shoe for luck

The one thing that really disappointed me was that he was never able to come to New York and see my bed and breakfast.  He had planned his visit for that first November and in October he fell off a curb while walking past a new construction site there in Arizona the fall broke his jaw and the trip had to be postponed.  In the hospital they wired his jaw shut and medications he had been on were not administered. This caused his Alzheimer's symptoms to accelerate and afterward he was never able to fly out here.  I like to think he would have been proud of my accomplishment. Despite opening a new business I managed to visit him a few times in January (for his birthday). I was lucky in that he remembered me on those visits.

Most people think of bed and breakfast getaways for Mother's Day, but maybe Dad would appreciate the chance to get away for a night or two and be treated to a special breakfast and a chance to go fishing, just hike along the gorge or wander through Old Fort Niagara.  Give it some thought.  Whatever you decide to do, let him know how much you appreciate him while he is still with you, it will mean the world to him.

Mom and Dad on their 25th wedding anniversary