Dad - 53 Years Ago

Dad passed away suddenly from a ruptured brain aneurysm 53 years ago today. I was 18 and serving in the Navy. We never got to have that beer together he promised when I returned from my first overseas deployment. I was glad to have spent that previous year with him as a machinist helper in the machine shop where he was the foreman. I got to see him as another one of the guys I worked with and experienced how he interacted and supervised so many other young men. They respected and admired him. At the time seeing him in this way was so different for me and changed our relationship. I would have liked to have had the time to know him better. He no longer was just my dad. So 53 years ago today I was tracked down and sent to meet with the base chaplain to get the news about my father. I immediately flew home on emergency leave in my dress whites with a black armband into the embrace of my family.

He was 47 when he died and never got to enjoy his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It makes me appreciate the time I get to spend with my four  grandchildren and looking forward to another one on the way.