in the navy

you learn all kinds of things.  or at least my dad did.  the other morning Phil asked me about Able Baker Charlie Dog and I laughed and asked him if he had been reading the "bluejackets" manual?  my father used to let us read his and memorize the semaphore flags and other cool (to us) stuff.

my dad could possibly have been the best dad in the world.  he hasn't gotten much mention here in the blog because he died in September 2001.  he was a tall handsome man whose hair never went gray.  he adored his family and liked to putter around the house.  he wasn't much of one for going places.  my mom dragged him around Europe over the years but he really was a homebody who would have rather been working on his old cars (Mustangs Thunderbirds etc...) or out on the water in a boat.

my father's ashes were scattered at sea - in the Gulf of Mexico by some sailors who do this for men and women who served in the Navy. 

one night this past week I had a dream about the Enterprise and when I woke up I laughed because I had dreamed about the starship Enterprise but had been thinking about the USS Enterprise which had come up in conversation earlier (dreams are funny that way)- my dad was on the New Jersey which is currently in Camden I think.  when Phil made his first trip to Hawaii we visited the Mighty Mo and I really understood then why my dad was so in awe of the ship he served on. it was enormous!  he became a "turtle back" (I think they call it) when he crossed the equator on the NJ. 

anyway, since I hadn't yet written about my dad and since I am heading out for a while I thought this would be a good time to tell you what a first rate guy he was.  he had incredible integrity.  he was always there for me from the day I was born until the day he died.  he was a role model for me as a business person and a manager.  he loved his country and his family and they don't make many of them like that anymore.

so here are a few photos:

he is the tall one in the middle - LOL - and is obviously partly responsible for my height. 

 with us kids in 1960

in front of his parents' house

he never lost his love of being on boats and on the water

I miss him all the time although after almost ten years it doesn't burn a hole in my heart as it did when I first lost him.  and since I am off to the "danger zone" (a country next door to one we have spent the last week bombing) I have been thinking about military related things.  and I wanted to say how much I loved my dad and how much he meant to me and how so much of who I am is attributable to him and his unconditional love for me. 

as I said - I had the best dad in the whole world.