Our oldest son/grandson Luke recently had a wonderful experience
along with his best friend David. David graduated from West Point
last month and Luke flew back to attend the festivities and the
graduation ceremonies.
Our oldest son/grandson Luke recently had a wonderful experience along with his best friend David. David graduated from West Point last month and Luke flew back to attend the festivities and the graduation ceremonies.
After the graduation the boys embarked on a cross-country drive through the southern states to visit New Orleans, then up to Las Vegas to visit friends before returning to ‘normal’ life. We enjoyed hearing from the boys about their adventures and what they’re looking forward to over the summer. Then David shared that he will be shipped off to a ‘hot spot’ just after Christmas.
I’ve watched these two fine young men grow up, playing football at Leland High School together and becoming fast friends. I expressed to David that he was to continue to keep in touch when he departs, as we would obviously be concerned. He responded with a smile, “Don’t worry Gina, it’s just what I do.” The simplicity, yet the power of those simple words …
When I was driving later that evening I was still thinking of that statement. The parallels that life brings us, hit me strong. While David is Army, my father was a Marine, and it occurred to me that David is just one year older than my own father was when he met my mother.
As a Marine, Dad was stationed in Hawaii, and much to our delight we enjoy the fact that he received foreign duty pay for his time spent there. My father had been offered a position as a Naval aviator, so off to Pensacola Naval Air Station he went. It was in Pensacola that he met my Mom. She was 17, he 21 when they married. I was born three years later.
Thinking of Dad and the way the world was then, and then thinking about the current world situation, it struck me that in a different time; in a different world I may not have even existed.
I’m glad the world was a different, simpler place when my Dad was in the service. I’m glad Mom and Dad found each other and that Dad did not re-enlist again. I’m glad he is around to tease and harass me. I’m grateful that he is who he is.
My Dad’s profession was spent as a research scientist. “Dr. Six” was well-respected by his peers. The joke was on them though. Dad taught college in his younger years, but he does not possess a PhD. He is self-taught in many regards, and was one of a handful of scientists in the Unied States who could do what he did. Whatever that was, it was impressive.
Dad worked hard and many hours to support his family. His dedication allowed my brother Allen and I the luxury of having Mom at home with us. We were the quintessential American family, home-cooked meals by Mom, a safe home with plenty of room to roam and explore and running out to greet Dad’s car when we heard him coming home at the end of each day.
My Dad has taught me many things as I’ve grown, like how to enjoy the beauty of the road less traveled, although I don’t recommend that anyone drive across Pike’s Peak in a large van fully loaded at any time of the year.
Dad taught my younger brother and me the difference between right-legged cows and left-legged cows. Did you ever wonder how cows can stand up on a steep hillside? Well, it’s simple logic really. It’s because they have shorter legs on one side of their bodies.
Dad always taught me to be nice to others, “Don’t start any fights, but if someone starts one with you, you better finish it.”
Dad taught me the joys of rock collecting and tumbling to reveal even more beauty. We mined diamonds together. So what if it was only in Herkimer, N.Y. The hunt, and the diamonds, we found was an exciting experience.
For a father-daughter square dance at my elementary school, my Dad taught me to sew. He helped me make a skirt and made himself a tie out of the same awful fabric I had picked out as an 11 year old. That atrocity of a tie still hangs in his closet to this day.
As I grew Dad helped me learn home repairs, like what to do when the hot water faucet simply will not turn off. He taught me how to plant a garden and enjoy a truly vine-ripened warm tomato that runs down your shirt when you bite into it. He taught me that’s it’s okay for a girl to get dirt under her nails; probably much to Mom’s dismay, although she never said anything.
My Dad has been there through thick and thin, no matter what life has tossed our way, and sometimes life can be overwhelming. Seven years ago, we suddenly lost my brother Allen to asthma, when his son Nicholas was just 6 years old. Nick spends every summer with Mom and Dad. Nick and Granddad have some pretty competitive games of chess on hot afternoons.
As each grandchild has come along, first Tara, then Luke, Marc and Nick, Dad has taught them some of the very things he taught us as kids. It’s been fun to watch. Now he has two great-grandchildren to teach about right-legged cows and why fireflies glow in the night.
Through everything we’ve endured over the years, and the growing pains of his kids and grandkids, he’s always there for us. Sometimes he’s there with his full of beans attitude, sometimes with a disagreeable attitude, but nonetheless, he’s my Dad.
We don’t tell the ones we love often enough that we love them, and that we value the life lessons they have taught us. I hope this will make everyone who reads this think, and then take the time to express his or her appreciation to a loved one.
Daddy, this is for you. I’m telling the world, or at least who ever reads this, that I am not ashamed, but instead very proud to tell everyone that I love and appreciate you, and simply to thank you for being my Dad. P.S. Hi Mom! Love you too!
Gina Six is an occasional guest columnist, a Morgan Hill resident who runs Cochrane Self-Storage and volunteers for ChildSpree, Toys for Tots, YourMorganhill.com and other worthy efforts too numerous to mention. Readers interested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at ed******@*************es.com or 408-779-4106.
