Welcome back!
Today is my Dad’s 87th birthday. Earlier today I was thinking about how many decades he has lived and what life experiences surrounded him over the years.
He was born in 1922, just as the Roaring 20′s was becoming the next big it thing. By the time he was ten-years-old, the banks had collapsed and the Great Depression was beginning to take it’s devastating toll.
When he reached eighteen in 1940, a number of his friends and relatives were going off to war. He was gravely disappointed that his eyesight kept him out of World War II – a sore point for many years.
Now an adult with family of his own
He and Mom married in 1946 and began raising a family in 1947. The lat forties early fifties proved frustrating for him as he changed jobs and moved a number of times, but he finally settled in as a farmer in 1953. When Mom went back to teaching school in 1957, the family’s financial situation improved and we were able to move into a better lifestyle.
They purchased their first house in 1962 when they moved into town and Dad started his final career. In 1970, they purchased a much nicer house just two doors down, allowing him to stay in the same quiet neighborhood.
Although Mom died in 2004, Dad still lives in the same home they shared for almost twenty-four years.
Years of travel bring many memories
Along they way they raised three children, traveled many miles around the United States, including three trips to Alaska. They also traveled to England and Germany to visit my brother when he was in the service.
Most of the trips around the continental United States were taken in a series of vans they purchased through the years.
During the eighties, four grandchildren joined the family, three girls and one boy.
Dad retired in 1982, although he continued to cane chairs, a skill he learned when he attended the Lansing School for the Blind during his high school years.
Over the years Dad and Mom spent many hours playing cards, bowling, playing golf, square dancing (Dad was a square dance caller for years), and even learned to cross-country ski.
The new millenium brought changes
In later years, he saw the new millenium roll in and celebrated the birth of two great-grandchildren.
He currently enjoys his twice-weekly lunches at the Senior Center, his continued attendance at various Masonic meetings around the area curtesy of a good friend and fellow Mason, and the numerous phone calls and visits from family members and friends.
Thankful for modern technology
His cellphone keeps him connected with the world outside his home. We receive frequent pictures via my cell phone which I then print out so he can see what his Texas-based great-grandson is doing, and how fast he is growing.
E-mail attachments and pictures sent through the mail keep him abreast of the growth of his great-granddaughter in southern Illinois. She has visited us twice which really blessed Dad.
I know he misses Mom and would love to join her in Heaven, but we would all miss him if he were not here with us. This post is to let Dad know that we are glad he has lived as long as he has.
Who knows how much longer he will be on this earth. After all, his older sister is celebrating her 92nd birthday today!
Happy birthday to both Dad, and to Aunt Vi, on this special occasion!
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Joan // Oct 19, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Terrific tribute to your dad! My father is 85 now and talks more and more about the past, which is fine with me. He and my 82 year old mother often share their memories of growing up during the depression, the war years and their early struggles on the farm in Iowa. It’s wonderful to still be able to share life with our parents as we, and they, get older.
2 Edie // Oct 24, 2009 at 7:53 am
Dad used to talk about the past a lot, but hasn’t much in the last year or so. I guess he feels he has said about all he can with me. Our conversations are more about what was in the news that day or whatever was happening that day in his world – senior center, TV, family news. I’m not sure why the change, but he has had at least one slight stroke in the recent past.
Hope all goes as well as possible for your Dad. I’m realizing we need to appreciate their presence while we are able. Thanks for stopping by the Cafe.