I am thankful for Fathers.
I come from a long line of fathers.* I have my own father who is very missed. Behind him I have a grandfather who observed from afar and one I never met. And one whom I only discovered recently through DNA.
My own father was a dedicated, rough and tumble dad who set good examples of hard work and integrity. The grandfather I knew was quiet with his own set of problems he never quite figured out how to handle. My other two grandfathers died before I was born but one was reported to be mean and the other was reported to be generous when times were tough, but was always on the move.
For these fathers and all who came before them, I am thankful for they helped make up the mosaic I am today.
Happy Father's Day!
*Get it? That's my attempt at mild humor. :)
I love your joke and your old pictures and am curious of who you came about to have your DNA analyzed, if you ever care to share that story :) I love genealogy.
ReplyDeleteI'm not close to my own father at all, having decided last year that his last outburst was the last straw in a long story of neglect and verbal abuse. Part of me will always love him but I despise him most. I miss my maternal grand-father. He was always more of a silent partner, my grand-mother being the one cuddling us and taking us places, but he was a lovely man and I miss him. I was never close to my paternal grand-father who came to France from Poland before WWII. He was a kind man, but my parents divorced when I was young and I decided that my dad's side of the family weren't people I wanted to be close to, for various reasons. So today I celebrate my husband, who is a great dad, and my ex who is also a great dad. I got lucky twice!
The new grandfather came from an unexpected DNA match on Ancestry.com. My sister, who does genealogy, unraveled the mystery. My biological grandfather is gone, but we were able to track down an uncle who is still with us. Lot's of interesting family drama from the past that has been figured out in the last couple of years.
DeleteYou couldn't have given your kids a better present than a good dad. I hope all of you had a good day celebrating Father's Day today.
Wow, I've been gone a week and missed a lot. I hope Ward is recovering and that life will feel more normal for you.
ReplyDeleteIt's my first father's day without my father. It has been an odd sensation, not to call or send a card. I had the blessing of a wonderful daddy who loved and supported all of us--he definitely had a lot of quirks, but even in his last days in the midst of his dementia, he would talk about how important his faith and his family were to him. I am sad for those who didn't have that kind of experience with their fathers.
I hope you had a good vacation. I thought about you spending your first Father's Day without your father. It's hard for all of us, but especially hard that first year. I'm glad that you have good memories and you are so very right that we were lucky to have good experiences with our fathers.
DeleteWait, I don't get the joke. Hmmm.... Is it funny because it's captain obvious? Well, I LOVE the old photos - looks like you have a genuine cowboy in your past!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I come from a long line of absent fathers, which has always left me a bit confused about the whole concept of fatherhood. My parents divorced when I was 4, and from that time onward, my dad was someone I talked to on the phone a few times per month and went to a movie with occasionally. Of course, he barely knew his own dad, since his parents divorced when he was a toddler and his alcoholic father died when he was a child. He (my father's father), in turn, grew up fatherless (as I learned on Ancestry) because my great grandfather died when my grandfather was a small child. Maybe that's why he became a messed up alcoholic! And I don't know what sort of relationship my great grandfather had with his dad, all I know is that he followed his older brother to this country when he was a teenager - there was no mention of their father in the records.
On my mother's side, she was estranged from her parents, so I met my maternal grandfather only 2-3 times before he died when I was 9 - and he scared the shit out of me since he was usually drunk. My most salient memory of him is him grabbing me and spanking me so hard that I couldn't sit down for days.
Anyhow, it's interesting to me that at this point in time, my father is actually the relative that I am closest to - not that I have a lot of relatives. But somehow the two of us have been able to make it through the craziness and forge some sort of relationship. I'm looking forward to taking him out to dinner later tonight.
Perhaps "normal" is just a fantasy concept when it comes to family relationships.
It is a Captain Obvious joke. And not one that will give you a belly laugh. More like a smile and/or a groan. All of this means, I wouldn't spend any extra time trying to figure it out.
DeleteWhile my own father was a good man, there were problems with alcoholics and irresponsible men in the generations before him. And this is the same for my maternal side. But both of my parents have provided a buffer between me and the problems they encountered, so I have had it good.
You definitely have had very difficult and interesting relationships with various family members. I'm glad that you are happy to see your father now. Has you step mother had a part in this?
I got your joke, I'm glad to say! I had a wonderful father and grandfather. Never knew my mother's father. Having a good father gives you such a great start in life. I always feel sorry for those whose parents had rackety lives, although I know most have overcome those shaky beginnings.
ReplyDeleteThat's Purrfect
Around My Kitchen Table
Everyone does the best they know how at the time, but it certainly helps to have come from a stable background. I'm glad you were one of them.
DeleteJune - Would I be right to say that there appears to be a real family resemblance between you and the man with the mustache in the lower, left-hand corner? I think I see your dad's photo, and I do see a resemblance there, but the one in the lower left appears striking. Or, am I all wet? (As you might guess, I am really interested in old photos - I am always amazed at how much information you can glean from them.)
ReplyDeleteEveryone in the picture is a grandfather or great grandfather except my dad who is in the middle. However, the one in the lower right is a birth certificate grandfather not a biological grandfather. It's hard for me to see who I might look like. The man in the lower left is on my fathers side however.
DeleteI think it all depends on the photo, but I definitely see a resemblance with your predecessor in the lower left - even with not seeing you and Ward in nearly 30 years (yikes!). I got your dad; he sure is young in that photo. All of the photos are fantastic.
DeleteI enjoy old photos also and like trying to think about the people in them. I enjoy the old photos you post even though I don't know anyone in them.
Delete