Father's Day Coming Up

**Vermin_King** · #1 06-12-2017, 07:47 AM

Well, after the last five days, I could be angry at the whole world, but instead I am very thankful for my dad, my grandfather, and several other men who helped me out when I was growing up.

My neighbor never learned anything about maintaining a yard as he was growing up, so he always has to ask my opinion about things and ends up with me helping him do what I tell him needs to be done. It would be easier to do it myself, but Charles needs to learn this stuff, so I spend the time teaching. Saturday, we had decided that we were going to knock out these trees in his fence and knock back the brush along his back fence. Young men from his church came by to help as a 'service project'. I have to give them credit that they came out, but they shouldn't sit in the car while Charles went to get the chainsaw blade sharpened, while I kept working clearing the brush. I generated two big brush piles while Charles was gone, which I hauled off myself (making sure to wave at the young men when I got back from each load. Later I tried to teach them a bit about managing the situation. It's all about getting access to where you need to work, piling the brush so that it doesn't become a bigger mess, and evaluating where to make cuts to get the brush free of the tangle. My dad taught me how to do that. I'm glad I grew up in an age when fish fry's were common.

Last night a friend was having a get-together for the Vintage Group at his church (yeah, the old folks, which I'm on the younger end of that spectrum). They were having a fish fry. Hey, I hadn't been in on one of those in almost ten years. He said that Al, another friend of mine was doing the cooking and suggested I call Al, to see if he needed a hand. It turns out Al and I had a blast cooking up the fish, and when we decided we had enough, we went in to join the dinner. Al had three younger folks lined up to help him, who never showed (and I think never even called Al), so it was a good thing I was available and heard about it.

If you have an example of something your dad taught you (even if it is just manners), or you learned it from a father-figure, jot it down. Let's make this a tribute to our fathers, blood or otherwise.

**Don Boose** · #2 06-12-2017, 08:35 AM

Great story!

During the decade of the sixties, when I wasn't in Korea or Vietnam, I was pushing troops at Camp Swampy (commanding a training company at Fort Gordon, Georgia). Fish fries with the company non-commissioned officers were a regular occurrence. We cooked up the catfish and bass that we had caught, fried hush puppies, and drank PBR.

So the mention of fish fries brought back memories.

It would be long list to describe all the things I learned from my father, including a set of ethics, how to handle tools, and how to get along in the outdoors. But for some reason, the one that comes to mind right now was his admonition to, when shaking hands, always smile and look the other person in the eye (he was a salesman).

Along with the ethics and the other skills, I tried to pass that on to my children. A couple of weeks ago, one of our grandsons graduated from college. After the ceremony, we shook hands and he gave me a big smile as he looked me straight in the eye.

Incidentally, both generations turned out to be paper model builders.

Don

**sander1942** · #3 06-12-2017, 09:29 AM

Not sure I can match the stories of V_K and Don but if my Dad impressed anything on me, it was responsibility: taking ownership and doing the right thing. I certainly wasn't always able to accomplish that but I believe, more often than not, the lesson stuck.

And I hope I've passed that along to my two sons.

**Vermin_King** · #4 06-12-2017, 09:38 AM

Ownership and Responsibility. That's not something you see much of these days

**Don Boose** · #5 06-12-2017, 09:59 AM

Yeah. Take responsibility for your actions. That was an important part of the package of ethics. I hope it has been passed on to the grandchildren (along with the love of paper modeling). I believe it has.

Don

**MacSongLi** · #6 06-12-2017, 10:05 AM

I love these stories. My dad taught me a lot of things as well. One thing that comes to mind is that he taught me to accept the mistakes I make, don't blame others. And to always learn from those mistakes.

Thanks,
Gary

**SCEtoAUX** · #7 06-12-2017, 10:19 AM

One thing my dad taught me is to make sure you have a welcoming home. We moved around a lot during his years in the Army so there were a lot of new places and homes to get used to and they all turned into popular places for friends to visit. He did have rules so we did not turn into a rampaging mob but for the most part he let us be kids.

**Rubenandres77** · #8 06-12-2017, 10:35 AM

When I was a very young child my father bought a house with one of the government's social home programs.

It was actually a 26X26ft piece of land, with only a small 10X10 built room and a bathroom. We all had to live there.

In the course of the following years, and with his own hands he built the rest of the area, and made it a three-floors house.

That meant I learned how to lay bricks, paint walls, do basic house plumbing and electricity, lay floors and such, before I had reached 14. Not being able to contract other people, we had to do it all. Since it was his profession, he knew how to do it.

That's just one of the many things he has taught me. And it was not only learn how to do that, but all surrounding aspects like planning, designing, improvising, correcting, making use of tools, make things with your own hands, get dirty, appreciate the hard work that goes into everything, and respect each person for what they do, and how to build a house, a home, and a family. Because even poor brick-masons can teach important things in life.