Happy Father's Day

There are a few men that have had a major affect on my life. My father, my brother-in-law, Neal S., Jim Nichols, and a couple of very close friends. All are or were terrific fathers.

The older I get, the more I learn about my Father. I thought I knew almost everything and then I was told something about him that I never knew. The older I get the more I realize the profound affect

my Dad had on my life. But what I have come to understand is that he was just a man.

After my Mom died my sister and I were going through paperwork and found a bundle of letters that my father had written to Mom when he was in the Army Air Corp. Half way through the first letter dripping with love and terms of endearment I asked my sister if she were sure that was OUR father that wrote those words.

I miss my Dad. I don't have the person to call and talk sports or ask stupid questions that only Daddy would answer without making fun of me. "What is lake affect snow?" I asked my first winter in Chicago. I had no idea but I kept hearing it on TV. I wouldn't ask my Chicago friends because I didn't want them to think I was an idiot. I called my Dad.

It was Dad I called when the mangy red dog with pointy ears was in my driveway. "Honey, that's a fox."

It was Dad I called when the "bear" was in the trees outside of my house. It wasn't a bear, it was a black hefty bag caught in the trees. When I told this to my dad he said in the same calm voice, "well, Honey, at least it isn't a bear."

My father never called any of us by our name unless he was angry. I never, ever hear "Patrice" unless I was in serious trouble. We were "honey" or "babe". He was the same with my Mom. He usually called her "Honey" and my sister and I got "babe". He was the same with his grandchildren.

I loved my Dad very much and I love him more now that I know he was just a man, that did amazing things for his family without needing any credit or any recognition