I miss my Dad

When I read Tom Brokaw's book I kept waiting to turn the page and find the chapter about my Dad. He was such a typical Greatest Generation guy. He was born in 1917, grew up in Syracuse, got his business degree at S.U.married my Mom and then went to war for four years. When he came home from Germany he got a job with a finance company and hated the desk work so much that it affected his health. He went to work training tractor trailer drivers for the Atlantic-Richefield Oil Co. and stayed there for forty-five years. He had four children. He never ever talked about the war.

Dad bought the house I still live in in 1952. He left for work every morning before I was up and came home for supper at 5:00 every night. His favorite dinner was hot dogs with fried potatoes and stewed tomatoes and his favorite television program was the Jackie Gleason Show. He loved watermelon. His dream was to see the country in an RV and he did that in 1977. When he retired, he and Mom wintered in Florida where he took up golf. He cared for his elderly parents and later for his widowed sister. He died at the age of 79 on the fourth hole at his favorite golf course.

And this very ordinary life is what made him (and all of those other men just like him) so great. They experienced the epic event of their century - maybe the epic event of all centuries and then came home and got on with their lives. They raised their families and did their jobs. They paid their taxes and helped their neighbors and they never seemed to be afraid of anything. My Dad grumbled about his boss and complained about crooked politicians but I never heard him tell a dirty joke or use a racial epithet. He drank beer at family gatherings and company clambakes but I never saw him drunk. He loved to talk but he also loved to listen and he knew alot about alot. He read the Readers Digest and the Saturday Evening Post but he also read James Hilton and John Hersey. He taught all his children and grandchildren and most of their friends how to drive (I told you he never seemed to be afraid of anything). He taught me how to do my own tax return, replace a washer in a leaky faucet, create a budget and swim. He was a good bowler but terrible at cards and he never went to church.

It's Fathers Day and I really miss my Dad.