My Dad and I
Here is my Father's Day post. It would have been done on Father's Day, but I couldn't find the digital camera with this picture from my recent trip. I was pretty sure it came back from my western swing, but I was too afraid to ask Kathy in case I had lost it. Turns out it was in the place where the digital camera goes (I finally thought to look there this morning).
I'm going to own up to this one. I don't know what to write about him.
This is a guy who worked and worked and gave me chances to see and do things that not everyone gets to do. And that was very important to him. I tried not to be a spoiled brat, but with only marginal success I think. In fairness, it is hard to have the perspective when you are 10 to appreciate all that you are getting to see and do.
But that getting to see and do, I got from my dad. And he worked to make it happen. He ran Acme-Waco Oil company, which meant delivering heating oil to homes, and deisel to trucks. Thing is, one of those you do mostly in the day and one of those you do mostly at night. I didn't realize what it meant when I was growing up, but during the winter he would go to work delivering homes in the morning, come home for dinner and a bath, and then go back out to fuel the trucking companies until after midnight.
During all of that, he made time to help found the youth hockey program in Milwuakee (the two times I won it, it seemed strange to me to win the award named after my dad for best goaltender). Took me to Bucks games, and to Madison for Badger hockey games most friday and saturdays from Oct. to March.
Not that we were usually cheering for the same team at a lot of those events. He is a huge Minnesota sports fan. Vikes, Twins (see the hat he is wearing to the Brewer game), U of Minnesota, etc. Teams which tend to be the arch rival to the Wisconsin teams. And he is a teaser, so he would let me know it when his boys had the upperhand.
Not that everything we did was sports. We got to go to Australia when I was 10 to visit my Aunt and Uncle. We went to D.C. to see all of the capital stuff. We went drove to Portland, OR to visit other relatives, but very wanderingly, and saw things like Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Coulee Damn along the way. Think Clark Grizzwald, but in (a bit) more control. A trip to Europe with my parents when I was 18.
Some random memmories with my Dad:
Days at the ballpark with the Brewer Pepsi Fanclub.
Nights waiting in the car at ABF while he fueled trucks.
Trips to the Chicago Stadium where he had me wear the Minnesota Northstar jersey.
Trips to Wrigley Field.
Getting up at 2:30 a.m. to drive to Indy for timetrials.
Playing the trivia game in the car driving to some random place.
Hearing about the jobs he used to have. I don't think he ever repeated one. Selling peanuts at the park, taking tickets for the Colts, working the dodge'em cars at the Minnesota State Fair, and a hundred more.
Honey sundaes and The Old Mill at the Minnesota State Fair.
Getting caught in a thunder storm at Disney World.
Giving up a goal in hockey and laying on the ice pouting, only to hear a banging on the glass behind me with my dad frowning and motioning for me to 'get up, get up.' When I got up, he stopped frowning. A lesson I've always taken with me.
Dinners at the Hot Fish Shop in Winona, MN driving home from St. Paul. Good onion rings, better walleye.
Dad getting up on Sunday mornings to drive my on my paper route, even a January morning where the temp was -26 before the windchill. Bacon and Egg sandwiches at George Webbs after.
Watching wrestling of all damn things with him on Sunday mornings after church.
Walking through the pits at hundreds of races.
I'm going to own up to this one. I don't know what to write about him.
This is a guy who worked and worked and gave me chances to see and do things that not everyone gets to do. And that was very important to him. I tried not to be a spoiled brat, but with only marginal success I think. In fairness, it is hard to have the perspective when you are 10 to appreciate all that you are getting to see and do.
But that getting to see and do, I got from my dad. And he worked to make it happen. He ran Acme-Waco Oil company, which meant delivering heating oil to homes, and deisel to trucks. Thing is, one of those you do mostly in the day and one of those you do mostly at night. I didn't realize what it meant when I was growing up, but during the winter he would go to work delivering homes in the morning, come home for dinner and a bath, and then go back out to fuel the trucking companies until after midnight.
During all of that, he made time to help found the youth hockey program in Milwuakee (the two times I won it, it seemed strange to me to win the award named after my dad for best goaltender). Took me to Bucks games, and to Madison for Badger hockey games most friday and saturdays from Oct. to March.
Not that we were usually cheering for the same team at a lot of those events. He is a huge Minnesota sports fan. Vikes, Twins (see the hat he is wearing to the Brewer game), U of Minnesota, etc. Teams which tend to be the arch rival to the Wisconsin teams. And he is a teaser, so he would let me know it when his boys had the upperhand.
Not that everything we did was sports. We got to go to Australia when I was 10 to visit my Aunt and Uncle. We went to D.C. to see all of the capital stuff. We went drove to Portland, OR to visit other relatives, but very wanderingly, and saw things like Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Coulee Damn along the way. Think Clark Grizzwald, but in (a bit) more control. A trip to Europe with my parents when I was 18.
Some random memmories with my Dad:
Days at the ballpark with the Brewer Pepsi Fanclub.
Nights waiting in the car at ABF while he fueled trucks.
Trips to the Chicago Stadium where he had me wear the Minnesota Northstar jersey.
Trips to Wrigley Field.
Getting up at 2:30 a.m. to drive to Indy for timetrials.
Playing the trivia game in the car driving to some random place.
Hearing about the jobs he used to have. I don't think he ever repeated one. Selling peanuts at the park, taking tickets for the Colts, working the dodge'em cars at the Minnesota State Fair, and a hundred more.
Honey sundaes and The Old Mill at the Minnesota State Fair.
Getting caught in a thunder storm at Disney World.
Giving up a goal in hockey and laying on the ice pouting, only to hear a banging on the glass behind me with my dad frowning and motioning for me to 'get up, get up.' When I got up, he stopped frowning. A lesson I've always taken with me.
Dinners at the Hot Fish Shop in Winona, MN driving home from St. Paul. Good onion rings, better walleye.
Dad getting up on Sunday mornings to drive my on my paper route, even a January morning where the temp was -26 before the windchill. Bacon and Egg sandwiches at George Webbs after.
Watching wrestling of all damn things with him on Sunday mornings after church.
Walking through the pits at hundreds of races.
posted by Tom at 4:10 PM
4 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nice post Tom. It's funny the things you realize only when your older. Guess it's supposed to be that way. Kids don't think, they just do. That's a good thing.
And if they are lucky they have parents that support them despite it :)
Great picture! It was worth the hunt.
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