THANKS DAD

 You left this world far too soon. Let me tell you about your three great and four great-great-grandsons.

First was Mathew Stephen, he was still in high school, he never married or lived with the mother. A DNA test when baby Seth was a month old made Mathew a father. After a lot of barging, joint custody resulted. Matt took classes in parenting, he changed diapers, fed, and did everything for Seth. The first time I watched my grandson burp his child, tears filled my eyes.

Next came Roby, Ian was four when Roby married his mother. Rob had a little trouble at the outset. I bought a soft football for my ex-high school football star. Roby, was instantly outside with his new son. Rob checks on me regularly, always with young Ian at his side. A baby girl is scheduled to arrive in September, giving Roby a daughter and Ian a sister.

Michael has only been a father for nine months, he and his beautiful wife are doing great with little Jason. Mike has an ancestry of special fathers in his DNA.

My son, Steve, (Michael Stephen) is among the modern fathers. His wife of thirty years is a smart, well educated, woman who is an executive with a large corporation. Steve became a Deputy Sheriff. Instead of dedicating himself to moving up in his career, he chose to excel as a Dad. There were times when his wife Kim sat watching one boy playing a sport while she did homework in the bleachers, with her other son. Still a career leaves a lot of slack. Steve and the boys did Karate together. All three are divers who enjoy the waters around Florida and the Caribbean. Steve and his sons have that special relationship, that keep them very close. 

Daddy you left this world far too soon. My oldest boy, Roby's father is up there with you. Dad you had to leave school at 13 and go to work in the mines. You never had a son, only one child, me, a girl. Mother worked nights, you put me to bed with the only song you knew, I made you sing it over and over. You were in school long enough to learn your times tables, that was my story time, repeating from the twos to the nine times tables.

When you had your first heart attack in 1952, Doc Thomas put you in bed for six weeks, with a bed pan, no getting up. No TVs in bedrooms back then. Mother worked and Grandma Slatzer, your mother, took care of you. One day Mother bought a bunch of magazines off the rack in the store. I don't remember the names, but they all had names like World New and Report. You devoured them like a starving man, and asked for more.

Once you got back to work, suppertime became our special time. We talked politics and history, our favorite subjects. If Mother was home for supper, she was glad to work the next night because you and I had a language all our own, about eras, places, and news.

You might be described as an average man, but look at genes you have passed down to some amazing men, and women. I know you are up there smiling. I miss you Daddy.