Good early morning GH. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City. To borrow from Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that. Instead, I'd like to offer up a letter to my father on this Father's Day.


Dear Dad,

It's been a long time since I've written. That's due in part to your having passed away so many years ago, but I thought it was time that I tell you what's been or will be happening with me. On August 30th of this year, I'll be turning 63, but you know that. Shortly thereafter, Mary, my wife and best friend, will be celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary together. My son Adam, will be turning 40, but you know that too. A milestone for him I guess, but for me, 63 is just another year.

I retired at the end of my 16th year of teaching. Yes teaching, something that I'd always aspired to, but from which I got sidetracked by the need to take care of my family. When I turned 40 I went to college again, with Mary's encouragement, something that I started and stopped over the years several times. Mary always said that whatever I did, that I'd still be four years older after four years. I know that I am a better man because of Mary; more liberal than I might have been, and certainly more complete. She was right. I got my teaching certificate, went on to graduate school, and taught in middle school for many years with her encouragement. You probably didn't know that.

I had some health issues that I've survived, and I wasn't able to continue teaching. But that's okay, because I enjoyed the time I spent in the classroom, as well as working on the stage and sets of our school drama productions. I used the skills that I learned from you in that activity. You always said that any of your sons would go into bricklaying over your dead body, so I took you at your word and became an auto mechanic for many years. I think you know that too. I used some of those skills in that endeavor.

Mary is doing well. She has a career as an indexer, you know, that information at the back of a book that tells you where to find things in a book, large or small. She is very good at her job. I assist her when I can. Mary has become an excellent cook and hobbyist in needle-crafts. I've even found time to learn to cook a little too.

Once I retired, Mary and I moved to Grand Haven, Michigan and started our lives over again. Now I spend my time gardening, walking with Sugar the Weather Dog, and getting to know the people of our new hometown. I joined the men's auxiliary at our local VFW post because of your military service. I like the people that I've met there. Small town life has a lot to offer.

When I'm not doing yard work or cleaning the house, I play one of my three guitars. We live on a relatively quiet street, except when it's time for Coast Guard Fest, which happens every year at the end of July and continues into the beginning of August. I ride my bike when I am feeling up to it, but when I am unable to do that, I enjoy walking. Mary accompanies Sugar, our Corgi/Beagle rescue dog, and me, when she isn't too busy.

Adam, you hardly got a chance to know him. He works as a commercial banker, but likes to play with cars. He truly is a chip off the old block, so to speak. I'm not sure where he got his math skills, but I know where he didn't get them. He has progressed nicely, and now heads the loan department that handles leases or loans for large commercial ventures. He never says much about what he does, but I think he is doing well. He married a wonderful young woman, Stephany, whom both Mary and I adore. They have been married for about 10 years. It seems like only yesterday that they got married. Time as you surely know, has a way of passing quickly.

I wish that you and I could have spent more time together when you were still with us. I like to think that we could have gotten to know each other better and learned to communicate. But that wasn't meant to be. Over the years, I often wrote to you in the journal that I kept in my classroom. I used to journal at the same time as my students. When I'd write to you, sometimes I'd read what I'd written to the students, and sometimes it was just too private to share. I think you would have been proud of me, just as I'm proud of Adam. Like you, Adam is an only child. In some ways, the way I tried to be as a father, was because of the things that I learned from you, both by your overt examples and by some things you didn't have time to do.

Mary is doing fine. I think that if it had not been for her, I'd have drifted through life. I know that she made me a better man. I know that she made Adam a better man and a good and caring husband too. I hope that Stephany agrees.

By the by, the Cubs are like you remember them; mostly inept. They have yet to revisit the World Series in over 100 years. They still play in that old ball park at Addison and Sheffield avenues, not too far from where you went to high school at Lane Tech.  I have followed the Boston Red Sox for many years, and they broke their World Series victory drought in 2005. Now that I live in Michigan, I follow the Detroit Tigers and the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Tiger's "A" level farm team. We visited Detroit recently to see a game between the Red Sox and the Tigers. Detroit, the city, is in a world of hurt. The once proud "Motor City" has fallen on hard times.

I guess it's time to wrap things up. Mary and I will be getting together with Stephany and Adam later today for Father's Day. I wish that you and I could have done that a few more times, but that too wasn't meant to be. As I get older, I have learned what is important in life, and that's family. I suppose that it's also important how you treat and respect people too. Mary taught me that.


With love,

Jack