Dad	Apr 24 07:00 UTC 1996

   I shouldn't do this, but it's long overdue. 

  I want to tell you about a special person in my life. Without him, I
wouldn't be who I am, and I certainly wouldn't be here. He is my father.
He was born on Scotten and Clark St's in the city of Detroit in the year
1933. He died April 24 1979, at just about the time I'm entering this item.

  There is too much too tell you, because it would fill the disk. I'll share
some of his greater moments.

  My father sailed on the Great Lakes freighters. I cannot look at one without
thinking about him, he was an engineer meaning he made the steam that made
it possible for the ships to ply the lakes. Dad was into all sorts of new
things and I like to think that my dad would have been seriously into
computers and videos. He adored new technology, but was quick to point out
that just because something is obsolete, it doesn't mean it's totally useless.
It can go without mentioning that his basement was full, and his cars were
not the newest things on the block, but they ran with precision.
  My father was married in 1958, and never once looked at another woman other
than my mother. He was staunchly devoted to our family and defended it with
all his might. He saw to it that his children were fed, and his wife never
once wanted for anything. Dad was never rich. He was always spending money
on things and schools for his children, often neglecting his own needs.:!

  In 1959, a daughter was born, and sadly died. In 1960, I was born, and 5
yrs later, Marlene was born. We were both planned.

  In 1962, he found a job with the city, opting to raise his children, and
not sail.

  In 1968, he bought a house on the east side of Detroit for 10,500. 30 yr
mortgage @ 6% interest. 

  In 1975, he stopped sailing for good, but only after a good job with Bob-Lo
which allowed his family unlimited use of the amusement park. Then he got a
job at Ford, and another place just to make the bills. Never saw much of Dad,
but I certainly could always talk to him.

  In the winter of 1978, some idiot hit him with his car, and broke both legs.
Dad was never sick in his life, and never missed work. After several
operations to fix the bones, he was sent home to recover. That was March of
1979. On the night of April 23, I was dispatched to the store to fetch 2 6
packs of Pepsi-Lite, and 2 pieces of pizza. When I turned the corner onto our
block, I could see an ambulance just turning the corner. I went to park the
van, and Marlene told me that Dad was in the ambulance heading toward Bon
Secours Hospital. I drove like a madman, trying to catch up. I didn't make
it. Thank the heavens that I wasn't killed by hitting something. I was doing
90 in a 30, and just didn't care about police or lights. By the time I
arrived. He was dead. 46 yrs old. It was a thrombo-pulmonary embolism. We were
assured that there was nothing on God's green earth that could have saved him.
Nowadays that isn't true. They have TCP and clotbusters.

I miss you dad.

response 2 of 19:

Apr 24 14:24 UTC 1996

   That is a wonderful item, Jim.

response 4 of 19:

Apr 24 17:43 UTC 1996

 My dad never built a car in his life. He made the steam for the hammers and
presses. He was in his glory that he got to tinker with Henry Ford's power
plant, He found that to be awesome. He gave me his love of mechanical things.

response 6 of 19:

Apr 24 20:48 UTC 1996

That was wonderful.  It made me remember with tears in my eyes how wonderful
my family is.  

response 8 of 19:

Apr 24 23:58 UTC 1996

just beautiful!  It's repetitive, I know, but I can't just "pass"
I feel lucky that I'm going to be seeing my family Friday.. 
It is so easy for me to forget how important they are!

response 10 of 19:

Apr 25 01:25 UTC 1996

Touching . 

response 12 of 19:

Apr 25 19:12 UTC 1996

<hands a rose to omni>   @}--'--,--'--
<hugs>

response 16 of 19:

Apr 27 00:21 UTC 1996

It's one of the things in my life that I am most grateful for, that I realized
younger than most rebellious teenagers that my dad was a wise, wonderful, and
eminently respectable person.  He lost his father at the age of 12, and I have
always thanked God that it didn't happen to me.  

response 18 of 19:

Jan 3 09:49 UTC 1997

Touching jim...It made me my remember my dad who died in Feb 1989,Of a massive
cardiaac arrest..I was 21 then..I remember with tears in my eyes How I ran
for the Doctor,How I tried to Restart his stopped Heart in vein,& how my Mom
sat there too schoked to cry even....
thank U jim for this item..........

..