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that just because something is obsolete, it doesn't mean it's totally useless.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.

19 responses total.

Thanks for sharing that, Jim.  You sound very proud of your father, and you 
should be proud of yourself for remembering him so well.

   That is a wonderful item, Jim.

Having a special parent is special.  What is not special is when they die 
before their time.  Some lives, especially some lives, are just too short.
There is a serious void that is just never filled.  By contrast, my Dad lived
to be 88.  He was a fine person, but in his case, it was truly long enough.
Much as I missed him, I could feel fulfilled from what he gave me.  

Also, he was one of those persons we respect because"they built the cars".
The technology of South Eastern Michigan, and the people who built it, is 
something to respect.  Not only are you a result of a loving and caring
person, but you are the product of someone who knew and respected the
things we build.  It is a beautiful legacy, and one worth sharing with us.
Thanks.  Ben Helmke

 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.

That was beautiful, Jim.  I'm sure your father is very proud of you.  =)  

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

thanks omni...you just inspired me to write my dad a letter!

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!

Jim, That was beautiful.  I want to say thank you...as i sit here with tears
in my eyes I reflect on the life my mother lived...She died less than a year
ago from Cancer...I really haven't been able to reflect on the legacy that
she left me until just now....Thank you for that...

Touching . 

You're welcome, everybody. 

 Dad always told me to remember him by tossing a rose on the water. I don't
have any money for a rose, but I can write, and I think of the Internet as
a vast ocean of ideas, and this to me is tossing the flower of an idea upon
the waters of Cyberspace.

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

Thanks, Jim.  

Perhaps Popcorn the Archivist might consider this one for the ages?

This response has been erased.

Having lost my own father just over a year ago, I sat and cried as I read your
tribute Jim.  I went back to read the poem and cried some more.  Huggles.

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.  

Well said, Jim.  I am greatly touched.  Here's to all our dads.

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..........

..

Thanks, Jim. My father is dying of lung cancer now. Sometime in the near
future, I, too, will need to look back at a man who means much to me.

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