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Honor your father, by remembering him on 'Father's Day'!


I lost my father a few years ago, and I do get kind of weird as father's day approaches.

Just remember, there's an infinite bonding that takes place between you and your male parental unit! image

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Comments

  • digicatdigicat Posts: 8,551 ✭✭
    This is my first father's day as a father. It's weird to be on this side of it. image
    My Giants collection want list

    WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
  • zep33zep33 Posts: 6,897 ✭✭✭
    I miss my dad.

    He died in 2004 not long after the Sox finally won the World Series. He was quite ill at the time but stayed up to watch them finally do it. We were 3000 miles apart as I had just returned home after spending the 3 prior weeks out there helping get some of his affairs in order. It was a sad and rough time but that phone call after game 7 with him will be one of the most cherished memories of my life.

    To those that still have parents, give them a call and tell them that you love them because at some point, you won't be able to do it anymore

  • scooter729scooter729 Posts: 1,730 ✭✭✭
    I couldn't agree more, and will be sure to let my dad know how great he is!

    Hopefully others will chime in on a slightly more serious thread like this - it's sad if a thread called "please delete" can get 25 responses in 10 minutes, but one called "honor your father" has one reply in 30 minutes...
  • fur72fur72 Posts: 2,348 ✭✭
    A close friend of mine fathers passed recently. Even though I was not of relation it put everything in perspective and was very humbling.
  • revmoranrevmoran Posts: 398 ✭✭
    After my father died I wanted to put together a website in his honor, and it took quite a few years to gather all the material, but along the way I've met some wonderful people who have helped me - and I enjoy the hobby of collecting vintage football material, which I never did before he died. Here's the link: Hap Moran

    image
  • Tedw9Tedw9 Posts: 1,424 ✭✭
    This is a great thread, thanks for starting it rbdjr1.

    My Dad is my best friend and always will be. He got me into baseball and collecting, some of my greatest childhood memories are of us playing catch in front of the house. We still collect together, still talk the hobby and baseball.

    I spent part of my past weekend at my parents house with Mom and Dad for their 40th anniversary celebrating and installing a new kitchen faucet for them. After almost losing my Dad a few years ago
    I always give him a hug and kiss and tell him I love him every time I see him. I've always done that with Mom, but Dad was always a mans man who never shows much emotion. But that does not stop me from saying it to him.

    I have been taking a genetics class (for work) recently that was harder than any class I have ever taken. I had been talking to Dad during the course telling him how hard it was and that many people dropped out because it was so hard and that I was ready to throw in the towel too. Dad wouldn't hear of it, he told me hang in there and that he knew I could do it, even if I didn't believe in myself. Well, it was so sweet to call him a couple of weeks ago and tell him
    that I was one of a dozen or so people (out of around 100) who stuck it out and was able to pass the class. Now keep in mind, I'm a 40 year old man, but when I told my Dad I passed, he said, "I'm proud of you son." and that about
    brought me to tears. I may be 40, but making my Dad proud still means something to me.

    Looking for Carl Willey items.
  • lawnmowermanlawnmowerman Posts: 19,477 ✭✭✭✭
    Wow! Great stuff from all you guys. Thanks for sharing!
  • My dad wrote a letter to me and my four brothers when I was 19 years old telling us how much he loves us, and even though we might not have agreed with everything he did, he was just looking out for our best interests. At the time the letter did not mean all that much to me, but last year at the age of 41 I finally replied to his letter. Now as a father of 3 myself I totally understood what my dad and mom sacrificed for me. My dad his now 81 years old and though its hard to see him get older I am grateful that I still have him. I think I'll give him a call right now.
  • Great thread.

    As most of you guys know, I'm still a pretty young guy so I normally get to see my dad everyday. Even as I type, he's sitting on the other couch next to me watching the Rays play the Angels on TV. He's a great guy and stands behind me, my brother, and sister in just about whatever we do and just wants to see us succeed and most of all be happy. He's a genuine guy that'll do whatever it takes for his family.

    Growing up he's always taken me to all sorts of sporting events. You name it, I've probably been to it. Not so much because he's the biggest sports fan in the world but mostly because its fun to spend time together and sports are something that have always given us a great bond. While the games are fun, I can honestly say that one of the best parts about going to games with him are the late night drives home (we live 2 hours from Tampa and 1 hour from Orlando). The drive home is when we get to unwind from the game, talk about the team, talk about other sports, discuss day to day life, and just generally have good healthy conversation and bond together. I may not remember the scores to every game, or maybe who pitched, but I will remember so many of those conversations.

    Soon enough I'll be over in Tampa, at college, not being able to kick it and watch the game with him every night. It's obviously part of growing up but I'm going to miss it for sure. Yeah, he'll drive over and go to USF games and meet my sister (who lives in Tampa) and I for dinner, but the days of making the drive back from Tampa with him are definitely getting towards the end.

    I pray that one day my kids will think I'm as cool as I think my dad is....My dad's the man image


    (sorry for the novel)
  • JVetteJVette Posts: 206
    Dad ... Wanna have a catch?
  • Bottom9thBottom9th Posts: 2,695 ✭✭


    << <i>I miss my dad.

    He died in 2004 not long after the Sox finally won the World Series. He was quite ill at the time but stayed up to watch them finally do it. We were 3000 miles apart as I had just returned home after spending the 3 prior weeks out there helping get some of his affairs in order. It was a sad and rough time but that phone call after game 7 with him will be one of the most cherished memories of my life.

    To those that still have parents, give them a call and tell them that you love them because at some point, you won't be able to do it anymore >>



    Well said Zep. I lost my Dad in 2005. I also cherish talking to him on the phone after the Sox won it all. I also remember talking to him in 1986 but of course the results are much different.
    I feel very fortunate that the last time I spoke to both of my parents I told them I loved them. That is priceless to me.
  • BarfvaderBarfvader Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭✭
    Nice to see that so many have/had great relationships with their Dad's.

    I won't get into my life story here as I don't want to bring this thread down. All I can say is I hope that I can/do better for my son (and soon to be son number 2) and that they turn out to be better men then what I am.
  • I miss my dad . He passed away March 2008. I will never forget when he was trying to teach me to drive . He thought if i learned to drive stick then driving
    automatic would be simple . I jerked that car everytime i tried to shift . I remember getting really frustrated but he never did and after several hours i was
    driving just fine . He was never really into sports but he never discouraged me from playing.
    A collector of all things Braves
    Always looking for Chipper Jones cards.
    Im a very focused collector of cards from 1909 - 2012...LOL
  • DboneesqDboneesq Posts: 18,219 ✭✭
    ONE OF THE BEST THREADS EVER!

    Personally, I would NOT have been able to accomplish what I have in life without my dad (and mom). They both sacrificed so much to give me what they never had. We never had a lot, but my parents made me feel like I had EVERYTHING! I NEVER would have been able to go to Law School if it were not for them.

    Dad and I always had a special bond. He coached my little league team ... we used to bowl together ... play golf together and generally just have a fun time with one another. I am very lucky that my dad is still around ... I am 51 and my dad just turned 80 a few weeks ago. As many of you know, I run Marathons and race Triathlons. I'll also run some of the shorter local races. Well ... on Mother's Day there was a local 5K race to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My dad, who generally walks 3 or 4 miles about 5 days per week said he wanted to enter the race! So I entered along with my wife, 2 daughters and my dad! YUP, at age EIGHTY he entered his FIRST race! The five of us walked (at a fast pace) the course together and when we were about 100 yards from the finish we all held hands and RAN across the finish line! That will always be a great memory for me.

    BTW ... my dad finished first in his age group (80+), got a medal and won a free massage. (Oh yeah, he was the oldest person in the race and therefore the ONLY person in his age group! LOL)

    PS I ALWAYS give him a kiss hello and goodbye and tell him I love him!
    STAY HEALTHY!

    Doug

    Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
  • nightcrawlernightcrawler Posts: 5,110 ✭✭
    Here's my Dad. image

    image
  • BoopottsBoopotts Posts: 6,784 ✭✭
    My Dad died in Feb. 2005. I wasn't especially moved by his passing, and as the years progress I feel increasingly indifferent towards him. The real question that I find intriguing is wondering what version of him I'll present to my own children when they ask about him. That's the great thing about death-- we no longer have to through the trouble of reinventing ourselves, since the living will pick up the mantle and do it for us.

  • This is also my first Father's Day as a father.I really hope my daughter will remember me as fondly as you all remember your fathers.Also Happy Fathers Day to all of you dads.
    Mike
  • ElemenopeoElemenopeo Posts: 2,577 ✭✭


    << <i>I couldn't agree more, and will be sure to let my dad know how great he is!

    Hopefully others will chime in on a slightly more serious thread like this - it's sad if a thread called "please delete" can get 25 responses in 10 minutes, but one called "honor your father" has one reply in 30 minutes... >>


    I wouldn't read too much into that. This forum may not be the place everyone wants to talk about their relationship with their father. Believe it or not, it may me be a place where folks are more willing to make stupid little jokes and talk about sports cards and memorabilia.
  • TJMACTJMAC Posts: 864 ✭✭
    Like many of you probably feel about your dads, my dad is the greatest man I have ever known. By no means was he perfect, but he was a good father, hard worker and always seemed to learn from his mistakes. As a father of two (3rd on the way), I try so hard to be there for my kids no matter how tired I feel. They also inspire me to be a better person and to always try to do the right thing. Being a parent can be overwhelming at times, but I draw such energy from knowing that I have a family that counts on me.

    Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.
  • My Dad passed away on New Years day 12:01am January 2003. I can't believe it's been more than six years already! My folks had me very late in life, my pop was 56 years old, Mom was 42. Definitely a surprise for both of them. By the time i was in 5th grade my Dad was retired lol. He took me and my friends everywhere! He was also a hell of a ballplayer, played in several city leagues and traveled around the state. A sure handed shortstop with a cannon arm.

    I remember tossing the ball around the backyard with him as a kid and having to ice my glove hand after. I definitely inherited that arm from him which comes in handy playing left field on my softball team. My dad never got mad, never raised his voice and never once hit me (he left that up to my grandma!) He was a WW2 vet and saw action in the Pacific, I still have his dress uniform and his medals and weapons he brought back with him.

    Even into his mid 70's he still tossed the ball like Nolan Ryan AND he was a mean SOB playing hoops! I emulate his style...hack, push and whale on the other guy lol. His last few years were spent in a nursing home after my Mom and I could no longer take care of him and he was succumbing to Alzheimers. I would LOVE to be able to go outside after dinner like we used to and throw the ball around, probably the best memories i had with my dad.
  • BarfvaderBarfvader Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>This forum may not be the place everyone wants to talk about their relationship with their father. Believe it or not, it may me be a place where folks are more willing to make stupid little jokes and talk about sports cards and memorabilia. >>



    For me I can say that's 100% true. I love reading how everyone had/has great relationships with their Dads but there are some of us that had horrible experiences growing up that still effect us to this day and Father's Day means very little.

  • storm888storm888 Posts: 11,701 ✭✭✭



    Happy Father's Day, To All!



    Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.
  • 54topps54topps Posts: 1,145 ✭✭✭
    WOW This is a great thread. I consider myself exremely lucky to have worked with my father for the past 20 years. 16 of those years with the company he owned than the last 4 years as business partners in a new venture. We share the same office and our desks are literally 12 feet apart. I get to see my dad at least 40 hours a week and many times on the weekend. We get along like best friends. Many people move away and see their parents only on holidays. I get to see my dad just about everyday. For this I am very lucky and forever grateful. As a father of 2 children myself I try to spend every chance with them I can get. Happy Fathers day to all the fathers out there.
  • 1966CUDA1966CUDA Posts: 2,010 ✭✭✭✭
    My Dad is the greatest person I think I will ever know (mom too!). My dad grew up in the depression and lived in orphanages with his three brothers...all they had was each other. He saw a lot and struggled thru those years. Married mom and had three boys. We didn't have a lot but dad struggled to make sure we never saw anything close to what he saw. As a kid I didnt realize this but as I grow older I see more and more how hard it was to make ends meet but he did it!! He was a computer whiz...into computers from the time there were computers. Dad was in the army repairing radios right after WWII and that love turned into the computer age and when he retired I would imagine there were only a small handful of people in the country who had been in the computer field as long as him. He was a civilian contractor working for the gov. designing missle guidance systems and laying cables on the ocean floor so our satelites could "one up" the Russians during the cold war. Never finished highschool, never went to college, but is the smartest man I know. The last few years he was working he was pretty much banished to a cubicle and was given orders from the younger college graduates in the company....he probably forgot more than they knew but thats the way the cookie crumbled. He never complained, just did what he had to do. He's is 79 today and he & mom still do ok...smoked for years and now has to use oxygen. My drive to/from work takes me by their house... I stop a few days every week. Even if it's only for 15 minutes to just say hi, I know he (and mom) won't be ther forever and I will miss those quick stops once he is gone!! As for sports, he wasn't much into sports...but supported all three of us boys in whatever sports we did (mostly wrestling) and got, as he called it, "bleacher butt" coming to all the wrestling matches we had over the years. I still ocasionally compete in masters tournaments at 45 years old and guess what....he STILL comes and watches and gets "bleacher butt"!!! Dad, here's to you!! Thanks for everything!!!
  • nightcrawlernightcrawler Posts: 5,110 ✭✭
    Storm... that seems really tough, I suppose I'm not the only one who doesn't know what to say.

    My heart goes out to anyone unable or unwilling to wish their dad a happy Fathers Day. image

  • zep33zep33 Posts: 6,897 ✭✭✭
    Wow, there are some great stories here guys - tough to keep a dry eye reading these
  • bman90278bman90278 Posts: 3,453 ✭✭✭
    Great thread! I will remember my late father and late father in law on this Father’s Day.

    I lost my father back in Jan 1989 and I was just 20 and still in school. I think of him every day and I’m very proud of what he accomplished with his life. I was too young to fully appreciate what my father meant to me before he died.

    Right after high school he enlisted in the USAF and stayed in for two terms. He left the USAF as a Tech Sergeant back in 1966. A year later he got a job at Paramount Studios and stayed in that business for over 20 years. He also started a company during the 70's with Michael Landon and several others which I'm still very proud to talk about.

    My dad always got home late when I was a kid, but he always spent all of his time with us during the weekends. I still remember my father buying me baseball cards during the early 70’s too. That was a major reason why I got back into cards. I wanted my son to have a collection from his father.

    I’ve mentioned this in other posts too….My 4 year old son Wyatt was born on May 27, 2005 which just happens to be my late father’s birthday.

    I also wanted to mention my late father in law Tony. He served 2 tours of duty in Vietnam in the US Army special forces where he ended up being exposed to Agent Orange. During his last several years alive he had many complications from the Agent Orange. He eventually passed away in 2004.


    Brian
  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,069 ✭✭✭
    Nice thread. I have enjoyed reading what everybody has written. Sometimes nicer to share memories with strangers than with friends. Hmmmm, why is that. My dad died when I was 14. He was sick his whole life, with a heart problem, but worked up until the day he died (a Sunday). He loved his job (he was a lawyer) and instilled that love of work in me... well, I don't love it as much as he did but I enjoy it just fine. He also instilled morals and the importance of loving and taking care of your family. He was sick and could never play catch or do that stuff with me but he always took me to ball games, talked about sports, etc.... I am 41 now and still think of him most days of the week. Not in a sad way but in an inspiring way. Sometimes I have a special treat like connecting with an old colleague of my dad's who will praise him and usually mention what a great laywer he was or how funny he was. I recently was reading a case (I am a lawyer too) and it cited a couple of my dad's major consumer protection cases that he took to the Cali Supreme Court back in the day. It essentially credited my dad's cases with creating fundamental framework in consumer protection law (interest rates being calculated on a 365 day year not 360 for those that care about trivia). Oh ya, and my son (who is only 6) is named after my dad and we sometimes talk about why his name is special... that is, that he was named after a special man, Grampa Michael. I hope I can instill the same morals and work ethic, in my kids, that my dad did in me. Oh ya, and happy father's day to all of you dad's!
  • MooseDogMooseDog Posts: 1,946 ✭✭✭
    This is a nice thread and those of you who have great dads (and granddads) should feel blessed and by all means let them know how you feel all the time, not just on Father's Day. Just keep in mind and respect that not everyone has had it so good.

    Afraid to say I'm in the camp with Barfvader and Boopotts. My parents had me when they were older and by the time I was a teenager and needed the most support, they lost interest in each other and in me. My grandparents on both sides were already gone so I was kind of left on my own accord with no positive male role models. I think I did OK raising myself but there have been some issues I've had to deal with in my head. One great thing my father did for me was take me to baseball and hockey games which fostered a lifelong love of both sports. However when he died when I was in my 20s, I really felt indifferent about it and still do.

    Point is, for those of you who are "new" Dads of sons - you don't have to be the perfect Dad - just be sure that throughout your life your son knows you're always there when he needs you.

  • What a great thread!
    Okay - here is my story...

    My Dad was my best friend growing up. We played all sports together, but as most, we had a particular fondness for baseball. He got me into collecting baseball cards. In fact, I still carry in my wallet the first baseball card I ever opened in a pack he bought for me, a 1987 Dan Quisenberry. My Dad loved live sports more than anyone. He would take me every where to see baseball games. When I was 9 we flew from Buffalo to LA on Thursday night, saw the Mets visit the Dodgers on Friday, The Angels play the Yankees on Saturday and San Diego play the Phillies on Sunday, then flew home on Monday. All my friends thought I was the luckiest kid ever!
    We went to the Superbowl, NCAA final four and countless Buffalo Bills games. It was our "big" bond - sports. I also have 3 sisters and one brother and they all play musical instruments. My dad did as well. They would all sit around and play the guitar together. My dad was a HUGE Beatles fan. Had every album, could play every song. They would sit and play for hours and I always felt a little left out. I cannot play anything.
    In 2005 I bought my Dad tickets to see Paul McCartney and took him. He had never seen him before and said it was something he had to do before he died. He loved the concert so much he shed a tear during the Long and Winding Road (my parents wedding song). It was honestly the only time I ever saw my Dad cry.

    In Janaury 2007 my Dad had a hear attack and died (he was only 56). The ironic thing about all of this is my best memory with my Dad comes not from the countless sporting events we went to but from that Paul McCartney concert. I think about that at least once a week. Funny how my best memory comes from something that we never really connected with.

    Anyways, sorry for the long winded reply. Here's to you Dad! I can only imagine what you would think of T.O in a Bills jersey this year!
    Happy Fathers Day to you all...
  • Ladder7Ladder7 Posts: 1,221
    Most of you guys are extremely lucky. I was five years old when the bastige left his wife and four kids, and he never looked back (and still hasn't, 45 years later). His loss though, There were many times he would have enjoyed giving us the belt image


    Many of the kids I grew up with in the city were in the same boat, so it was the norm. There were no dead-beat dad laws, so all these chumps caught a free ride. In my job, we encounter single moms left to tend to the flock alone, I make it a point to encourage them to get the slacker and help guide her to sources with the county that will help locate these weasels. You can divorce a thousand wives, but you can't divorce your kid.

    A sincere Happy Father's Day to all the good ones, who kept it in their pants!









  • TheVonTheVon Posts: 2,725
    I appreciate everyone's willingness to share their stories here. It's nice to hear the good and it's important to hear the bad as well.

    I was 10 when my father died after several years of battling cancer. He was 56. I think my father was a kind and warm-hearted man. But I don't really know that to be true. The few memories I have of him are of him laying on his side, coughing up whatever was in him. There were long periods of time when I only remember seeing him in a hospital bed. I also have memories of him watching my little league games from the car becuase he was too tired and weak to make the walk to the field. I appreciate that he was there though; that when he could, he made the effort to be a father to me. Still, when I think of him, there is always some kind of distance between us, whether it was the rail of a hospital bed, the length of sidewalk to the diamond, or that space you give to someone coughing up their lungs . . . I wonder if he felt it too, I wonder if he sensed that I was afraid of him or of what was happening to him?

    I believe that he loved me even if I can't remember him saying it to me. And I suppose that belief is all that matters.

    Now that I am a father to a little girl of my own I find that I'm not sure what it really means to be a father. But I do know that it's my job and my privelege to show my daughter that she is loved every day. No matter what.
  • What I was able to learn from my father was how not to raise my daughter.Don't get me wrong I love my Dad to death but he wasn't a great father.We are great friends now.He is one hell of a grandfather to my daughter though.I guess what I am getting at is 20 some odd years later I think he finally is starting to understand.Better late than never.I love you Dad,Happy Father's Day.
  • CDsNutsCDsNuts Posts: 10,092
    My dad used to whip us with sharpened chains and throw rocks at our heads while we slept. It wasn't all bad though, sometimes he got us ice cream. Happy Father's Day dad!!!
  • My pop is perfect!
    So Id like to remember all the fathers and sons fighting overseas! OUR TRUE HEROES!
  • 2dueces2dueces Posts: 6,559 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I honor my father with every post I have ever made on every forum that I am
    a member of. It's been 27 years since I lost him and I still value the lessons
    I learned from him. From the time I was 7 years old he took me to the ball
    field every day, played catch, hit grounders and fly balls and taught me the
    basics and finer points of the game. He never missed any athletic event that
    I was in and always found a way to teach me more. He was a good man
    and I still miss him. Love ya Dad.

    P.S. All you have to do is look at my sig line. Joe
    W.C.Fields
    "I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
  • BunchOBullBunchOBull Posts: 6,188 ✭✭✭
    It's funny how time changes people. My father was a powerful man at one time, with a quick and hard-hitting temper to go along with it. This wasn't always a good combination, but, despite the fear I had for him during much of my youth, I always felt loved and provided for.

    Now, I'm 25 and my father is full of regret. He second guesses many of his disciplinary practices, apologizes for who he "was," and claims he hopes he, "hasn't ruined me;" meaning, he hopes I haven't inherited some of his earlier traits.

    Looking back on my youth, I absolutely think my father did some things completely wrong. He was ignorant, he might say stupid, in many of his choices...but I don't regret any of it, nor is it what I associate with my father. He can't seem to escape it though and seems to bring it up every time we are together, and even on the phone from time to time.

    I really, really like who I am as a person and know I wouldn't be the same had I been brought up any differently. I'm very close with my father now that I'm an adult, and as such I consider him a great friend...which I couldn't (and possibly shouldn't) have been able to say as a child. We have our heated disagreements to this day, but it's much different and means very little at the end of the day.

    Two or three years ago, he made a comment about disciplining a child that I found both introspective and profound:

    "Striking a child is a method used by folks who aren't smart enough to figure out a better way."

    I've always considered my father to be a rare, gifted mind, and highly intelligent...that statement, while a bit ironic to me at the time, is a reflection of why I feel that way.
    Collector of most things Frank Thomas. www.BigHurtHOF.com
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