Dad with my stepmother~2007If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants
Sir Isaac Newton
Today is my father's birthday. He was thrust into that role soon after he could get into a bar legally. Although quite young, he did his best to adhere to this somewhat sudden responsibility.
My parents marriage lasted about nine years. When they divorced, brother and I were whisked away to Appleton, Wisconsin with my mother. Her mother and family were there, and we lived there for the next five years. Until my mother decided we should return to San Francisco. Appleton was nothing like the city of my birth. It was, however, an idyllic little intermission in my childhood. There were cousins. And cozy neighborhoods. And catholics.
Anyway, we returned to San Francisco. Which meant we got to see our dad frequently. He had the sailboat then, and we spent many hours sailing on the bay and beyond or working on that boat. As a child, I thought I had the coolest dad ever. I still do. He married my step mom in 1994, after shacking up for about a decade. It's a match.
Losing my mom in 1981 radically altered the course of my young life. My surviving parent has guided me through many changes since then. Nothing about our history has been conventional. The one exception to that is the mutual love and respect we share. An example of the non-convention: When I was very young, he decided that we should call him father.* Not dad or daddy. Father sounded cooler to him. So we complied. I recall that my neighborhood pals wondered if our dad was a priest. Nobody else called their dad father.
* Nowadays, he answers to (most) anything.
My parents marriage lasted about nine years. When they divorced, brother and I were whisked away to Appleton, Wisconsin with my mother. Her mother and family were there, and we lived there for the next five years. Until my mother decided we should return to San Francisco. Appleton was nothing like the city of my birth. It was, however, an idyllic little intermission in my childhood. There were cousins. And cozy neighborhoods. And catholics.
Anyway, we returned to San Francisco. Which meant we got to see our dad frequently. He had the sailboat then, and we spent many hours sailing on the bay and beyond or working on that boat. As a child, I thought I had the coolest dad ever. I still do. He married my step mom in 1994, after shacking up for about a decade. It's a match.
Losing my mom in 1981 radically altered the course of my young life. My surviving parent has guided me through many changes since then. Nothing about our history has been conventional. The one exception to that is the mutual love and respect we share. An example of the non-convention: When I was very young, he decided that we should call him father.* Not dad or daddy. Father sounded cooler to him. So we complied. I recall that my neighborhood pals wondered if our dad was a priest. Nobody else called their dad father.
* Nowadays, he answers to (most) anything.
12 comments:
Happy Birthday Annie's Dad!
What a sweet post.
Happy Birthday Annie's Dad!!
It's wonderful that you got to spend some time in Wisconsin; it's a beautiful place. But I'm also glad you returned to Baghdad by the Bay.
not that i mind your nagging about mccain (okay, the pics are grating on the eyes), but it is nice to see a kind man. thanks for the picture. happy b'day father.
Happy birthday to your dad, annie.
Happy Birthday to your Father! ; )
We had a 27 Ft Bay Lady and hung out on our boat on weekends.
It's a long shot, but ask your father if he knew a Norbert Dorn? If so, we may have seen him on that boat too.
Cheers! ; )
happy birthday father "D"
Happy Birthday, Annie's Dad!
Mine had his 78th last Saturday, April 12th.
hey, your dad kind of looks like my dad, only kind and pleasant! When I read your very sweet post here and I realized that the resemblance really does end at the hair & beard! How wonderful that your father did fatherly things, and helped you through the roughest bits. And so you twice gave him beautiful grandbabies for his birthday, April's pretty special in your family, eh!
Today was my younger son's 29th; it's nice to know he shares it with someone so great!
A belated Happy Birthday to someone who has given us so much!
alan
Hope your old fella has a great birthday, Annie :)
What a nice post, Annie. Looks like you have a pretty cool dad, er, father! LOL
Years ago I had a friend who called her parents by their first names. I was told by her father that all their children did that because when they were very young, they heard the love in their parents' voices when they called to each other by name and they wanted to be a part of that.
Belated Happy Birthday to your dad! He and step mom look cool, fun, happy.
Hey, yet another coincidence for us: my dad had us call him 'father' and all his grandkids call him 'grandfather.' We all think it sounds ridiculously prim, but there you go!
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