Legacy
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When Norma took off her Jeans, men noticed.
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What will be our legacy?
How will we make a difference in the lives of others?
Pop was a soldier, and a darned good one I think.
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A system of conflict resolution is required if we are going to be successful as a family, and as a nation.
“The big and the small are the same.”
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Pop liked Custard Pie.
He also liked to tell some funny jokes.
We miss you Dad.
My wife’s Dad served his country as well, he was in the Navy.
We miss you too Poppy.
Men of Strength and Honor, Men with a sense of Humor, and an ability to enjoy life.
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Pop was a great story teller, and was wounded in conflict in the Big One.
The Purple Heart allowed him to come home early, and thus I, along with another DP, were born precisely (give or take 15 minutes) 20 days ahead of that long winding road of boomers.
I will spare you the suffering of a long-winded article about Pop ; it’s there if you want to read it. Let’s just say he was important to me. 242 of course, is just ridiculous. Let my guard down and forgot to be a Man in that post.
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Pop was stationed in the Motor Pool on Christmas Island; someplace deep in the South Pacific. The pool was probably smaller than the pacific; not sure if it was salt or fresh water.
He said he had heard about a remote Island, only two jeeps were on it; as luck would have it, they got into an accident. Evidently that’s when he decided a career in Insurance made as much sense as staying in his career path of fixing cars and killing people.
One day I saw him and his Bud sitting in the upstairs bedroom. He had a 22 laying across his lap. 25 years ago; yet I still see him sitting there, as he answered: that rabbit keeps eating our vegetables in the garden”. “There he is.” He put down his beer, and within 10 seconds there was no more illusion about his skill level. The bunny who was about a hundred yards away never knew what hit him.
Despite this, I remember Pop as a gentleman. I remember that he wanted the best for us.
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He told us a story about one of his cases. The guy was making a claim that he couldn’t work for several more months, and wanted more money.
“Is he telling the truth dad?” I asked.
He got his suitcase out, and took out a photo. A man was standing on the next to the last step of the ladder, reaching up with both hands to pick a few apples high in the tree.
“What do you think?” he remarked. Pop had taken the image a few days ago, and had evidence that would say to any judge or jury “fuggedaboutit.”
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Pop always said “When you do something, make sure you act as if the whole world is watching”.
That was long before the days of the internet.
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By the way, “Happy Father’s Day”, all.
Perhaps some of you took your chidren to a ball game and bought them some Hot Dogs.
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Kurt Vonegut is one of the few writers who has left his mark on me.
Deadeye Dick, although mostly set in the mid-twentieth century, foreshadows the turbulent times of contemporary America; it ends prophetically with the lines “You want to know something? We are still in the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages — they haven’t ended yet.”
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I asked my wife this morning what she thought was a significant change in society during our lifetime. We are old school, and she didn’t hesitate.
“Technological wealth, and Opportunities for women”.
“The only problem”, she continued, is “Kids have more things, but in many cases both parents have been absent from raising their children”.
I agree.
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Values need to be taught.
Kids need discipline and guidance, they need hugs, they need to know they are loved.
Fathers and Mothers need to be involved in this process, and not just with “quality time” nonsense.
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There are many ways to resolve conflict. One of the best I ever heard was from “Getting to Yes“.
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Not sure if Custard Pie works.
“…Vonnegut held a bleak view on the power of artists to effect change. “During the Vietnam War,” he told an interviewer in 2003, “every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high.”
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The long and winding road of life gives most of us ample time to choose how it will be spent.
It is a bitter irony that men of peace have often been short-changed that birth-right.
I won’t dwell on the feminine side today; which I feel needs to be embraced. We can save that for another occasion. Don’t want to spoil feel good Father’s Day.
If you are living in a house of flying daggers, put down them down.
Many songs, one voice.
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