Happy Father's Day

At this time of year I do pause and have great memories of Dad and the good times we had over the years.  He's been gone nearly 13 years now and I can still hear his laugh and see him holding a screwdriver at happy hour.  The enjoyment of having a good game of golf or yelling at the TV when football games did not go his way.

Christmas time had him putting up lights and boughs on the front porch at 697 Indiana (our old house) while at 1146 Beswick he was a master of the Bar-B-Que grill.  Adventures up to Lake-of-the-Woods and rushing home in summer of '69 to see the landing on the moon.  A master at packing a car for a trip, he took us on many an adventure to the beach or even our first trip to Disneyland when he won the trip from Carnation.  From Ragu to Chung King we had all sorts of products around from his years as a food broker and oh how we looked forward to helping him with the carnival at Sherm's Thunderbird Market each year. 

Enjoyed celebrating his 70th birthday at Tavern on the Green in New York City and oh the talks we would have about politics.  He was one to enjoy a good discussion, not a shouting match.  He would make the holidays special for us and was always in the kitchen making sure we had breakfast before heading off to school.  When I delivered the Oregonian newspaper, he helped me on many a rainy or snowy morning. 

Enjoyed being a member of the Elk's and know as "Easy Earl" on the golf course he had many many friends and never a bad word was said of Dad.  I remember his memorial service and all the people who showed up.  It was stunning and at the same time it showed just how many lives he had touched.  I'm glad to have called him Dad!