Who's your father?

Who is/was your father, be it birth, adopted or father of your heart?

My father was a milkman. Yep, a door-to-door bringing the milk in glass bottles milkman. He loved his job. Years later you could be driving down a road with him and he could tell you which houses he delivered milk to and what their order normally was. He was born as one of 13 children to a French Canadian mother and father and they were very proud of their heritage. He loved his three kids and always worried about us. He died a year ago this Thursday.

My father is a Civil Engineer. He still works, at 82, even though there isn't much contract work coming in, due to the economy. He wanted a fixer-upper house, and got his wish when I was a year and a half old. I grew up in a half done house, but learned so much from him. I followed him around the house and yard and when he was working the table saw, he wouldn't let me into his workshop, but gave me a hand saw or a small hammer and nails, and a piece of wood and let me 'help' just outside the door.

On summer days, we would have dinner but then go outside and pick blackberries or fresh peas off the vines, eating more than went into the baskets... I didn't understand him when I was a teen (thought he was just like my mom), but as an adult I got to know him better, and now we're good friends. I can talk to him about anything. Cry on his shoulder and he'll help me work things out. A great man. Quiet, but great.

Amanda

My father was a meat cutter at a small family run butcher shop. He had one brother, a curmudgeon for a mother, and a father that worked far too many hours. My father inherited the work gene from his dad and worked probably 60 hours, 7 days a week for many years. I'm grateful he did not inherit much from his mother (sorry Grandma, but you were a grump).

Dad was a kind, gentle soul, and would bump into people he knew where ever he went. I recall sitting on the rim of the Grand Canyon and he bumped into one of his customers, then again when we up at Niagara Falls. He ran into other customers in London and Puerto Rico when he traveled there. Yes, he liked to travel.

Dad's hobby was woodworking and I've inherited some of his tools. I don't mind breaking out the saw and dropping in a new wood fence or deck. He would be envious of my nail gun.

Dad had a great sense of humor and cracked the corniest of jokes. When traveling, every river we crossed was the "Snake" river (I still call them that), and every agriculture field (when not obvious) was sorghum. Imagine my total surprise when we moved into our last home 16 years ago and there was actually sorghum planted across the street. I had never actually seen it and knew dad somehow had a hand in us finding that home.

He also liked to sing, but could never remember the words to songs. So he'd belt out the first line or 2 then hum for a while. The song he always sang to me: "I Can't Stop Loving You". He'd stop after that line and hum the next line (never beyond that).

I lost dad in 1986 to cancer when he was only 56 years old. About 4 years ago on my birthday I was sitting in a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta and they had native music playing over the speakers. All of a sudden, an American song started to play then stopped abruptly. And guess what that song was and guess where it stopped? Yup, I Can't Stop Loving You, and it stopped at the second line. (of course I started to cry)

Thanks dad!

My father was a shoe salesman in eclusive women's stores like I. Magnin. He died 46 years ago when I was 17. Many years after the death of both my parents, I became interested in genealogy and researched his side of the family. I learned that his marriage to my mother was his 5th and last! He was kind and loving to me, but because he was older, and had been undiagnosed diabetic for some time, he was always in poor health and died in 1963, 2 months shy of his 70th birthday.

Daddy was a Holocaust survivor. He was incredibly smart, emotionally damaged by his experiences, but he still managed to love his only child. He died 25 years ago, but the oldest grandson who shares his middle name, is so much like him that he's almost a living memorial.

My dad didn't come into my life until I was 12. He & I may not share the same DNA but he is the reason I am who I am. He is 74 years young, has a total of 5 daughters and loves each of us as his own. When I was 18 he adopted me legally, but I was already his daughter in everyway that is important. He is the most kind, loving, gentle soul in the world!! I thank god everyday for bringing him to me, my mom & my sisters lives. He taught me to be honest, work hard, love hard, always think of others first. He started out as a 17 year old drop-out, digging ditches & retired from the Federal Goverment as a regional commissioner of Immagration. It took him almost 12 years to graduate from college, but he did it!! Needless to say, they whole family was there to cheer him on as he walked across the stage, he had the loudest fan base!! If you can't tell my dad is the greatest

This is a great idea for a thread

Dad trained as a machinist but also had other jobs including driving trucks (locallly as well as in Korea), and an inspector for the state highway department. He wasn't book smart like Mom and me, but had a great memory and map reading skills. And a perfectionist. I'm like him in that I want things to be perfect.

I remember quite fondly our driving vacations and seeing things most folks didn't. We rarely sought out the Big Name Attraction and instead visited the smaller, odder ones.

Thanks to Dad I have my love of rocks, minerals, and gems and the music of the Theater Pipe Organ.

He also was a cat lover - became one after dating Mom who told him she would have cats. In fact, the kitten she had when they married soon became his kitten and followed him everywhere.

When he proposed to Mom he included asking to adopt my sister. And then presented Mom a diamond ring - set with the diamond from a ring he had just bought himself before they started dating (and proclaiming no woman would ever get it. )

He passed suddenly in 1990 at age 65. Muscle deteriation from a mild case of polio made it hard for him to walk towards his latter years but he still could drive and he did one last major trip to see his only grandson become a Marine (Parris Island).

Maybe there should be a tissue advisory for this thread?

My father spent 27 years working in a factory where they made explosives and such. He didn't start out doing that he started as a farmer he and my mom took over his parents farm right after he returned from WWII in 1945. My brother was born in 48 and my two sisters in 49 and 51. It was then that he went to work in the factory to support his growing family. For the next 30 years he had a daily commute of 1.5 hours each way. The sad thing was the year my father was due to retire with a full pension he died of a massive heartache...I was 20 at the time.
My father loved music, could play guitar, banjo and fiddle. He love photography and was one of those hunter's who went from carrying a gun into the hunt to carrying a camera instead.
My dad had a quirky sense of humor and I am often told that of all his children I am the most like him.

My dad is 81 years old (born in 1927) , and one of 12 siblings! He's worked hard his whole life- picking fruits and veggies when he was a boy, working at the nearby Army Airfield, and then enlisting in the U.S. Navy when he was old enough. My dad had dreams of of becoming an architect, but never had the opportunity to study for it. He nearly died after Navy, where his job exposed him to asbestos and his lungs were severly damaged.

Later in life, he fathered 7 children- 6 girls and 1 boy (I'm the youngest). He worked in landscape architecture for many years, self-taught. When I was a little girl, he made a skateboard out of wood, tied a rope to it, and would tug me around the park.

My dad is still quite active. Just this week, he made the drive from California to New Mexico and back. When he came home, he planted some trees. Before he left, he painted his patio!

I'm very proud of my dad. He's strong and smart, and taught me the value of hard work. Oh and guess what? He's also a cat person. He took in a kitty I had rescued from a mall parking lot as a teen, and she's still with him today.

My dad owns, with his two brothers, a residential home and land development company. He buys large chunks of land and turns them into subdivisions, including getting to name the streets (I have 3 streets named after me and Greyson has one), then he either builds all the houses on them, or he sells the majority of the lots to other builders and then he builds on the rest. He also owns and rents out a large strip mall where his business is located. He has even designed a really nice golf course that is on in one of his subdivisions. He inherited this company from his father, which was started in 1950. My grandfather died of a heart attack when I was 13. I used to love going with my dad out to empty land so he could think about what he was going to do with it.

My dad used to have a pilots license. He could fly a small Cessna. My grandfather used to own a small airport where one of their subdivisions now sit. My grandfather, my father, and all of his siblings (minus I think one sister) all had their pilots license and I remember that the shirt they wore on their first solo flight was ripped up and put on the wall with "First Solo Flight" and the date written on it. It was really cool to see all the shirts on the wall. The summer between 5th and 6th grade my friend wanted me to come out to Colorado with her, so my dad flew me from Omaha to somewhere in Colorado. It was fun!

Other than that I don't know very much about my father. When my mom got cancer when I was in 6th grade they both started drinking heavily and have ever since. B/c of that I kind of withdrew from my parents. I don't get along at all with my mother and didn't get along with my father until a couple years ago. That is when he got REALLY sick from his drinking, to the point where he was hospitalized multiple times in a couple month span with alcoholic hepatitis. They pretty much told him he needed to stop drinking or he would die. So he did. He has been a completely different person since then. He's suddenly has a great sense of humor, is fun to talk to, plays games with us at family get togethers, etc. Thinks he used to never do.

He loves spending time with my son. My son loves him a lot, and I'm glad. I know my father is probably going to die early, much like his father did and for the same reasons, so I want them to spend as much time as possible together.

I'm in tears and just thinking about writing about my dad.

My dad is much younger than the other fathers written about so far just 55. He is branch manager for Orkin Pest Control and has been in pest control for 30 years. He oddly majored in communications in college and started his career substituting for English classes. He is a great public speaker. He and my mom have been married for 32 years and have 3 children, two son-in-laws, and 2 grandsons.

He is the youngest of four children and definitely his father's son. He is an amazing man of God and teaches an adult Sunday School class each week at our church. He loves to garden and was born with two green thumbs. He is also a great public speaker.

I have definitely inherited my dad's love of talking and love of animals. He grew up on a farm and is probably the only family member who enjoys my cats.

Leslie

My dad just turned 60. He is retired but in his life he has been a teacher (high school business), a real estate appraiser, a county assessor, and he has been in the National Guard.

He and Mom bought a fixer-upper when my sis and I were in elementary school. We spent our entire childhood and youth learning how to do various tasks that are associated with fixer-uppers - painting, installing various fixtures, drywall, landscaping and irrigation, and concrete, were all things that we grew up helping with. Dad made sure that my sis and I could change the oil in our vehicles as well as put the spare tire on. He and Mom taught us the value of a good work ethic and how to live within our means. We were always on a tight budget growing up, but they were always taking us camping or fishing so we would learn how to enjoy the simple things.

My Dad is the reason that all the old guys that I work with are impressed with my handshake and the fact that I take pride in a job well done - even if I am a girl. I love my Dad!

I never really knew my biological dad.
My stepdad raised me and nurtured my tomboy-ishness growing up.
He made sure I could do a little of everything, always called me his "hip pocket buddy" when I was little
He'll be 67 next month, former Air Force MP and retired Boeing Engineer.

My Dad was born in 1900 on a sandbar in the middle of the Mississippi River. His Dad had left his Mom at a campsite there and went fishing. When he got back, he had a son. Dad lied about his age so he could serve his country in WWI.

Years later, my Dad worked for the County Hospital for years where he met my mom. The had a whirlwind courtship and married after knowing each other for 6 weeks. Mom was 21 and my Dad was 51 when they married in Nov of 1951. He was the same age as my Grandfather and older than my Grandma! My oldest brother was born in Sept 1952 and 51 weeks later my other brother was born in 1953. I followed in Dec 1956. The youngest and only girl in the family. Dad always told me that when Mom was pregnant with my brothers, he had prayed for a little girl, but Mom had the boys. When Mom was pregnant with me, he said he prayed for another boy and said he would put them all in the same room and just let them fight. That is when he got his little girl. Growing up, I had the distinction of being one of the youngest offspring of a WWI vet.

Dad retired in 1964 and became a househusband. He was very young at heart and all my friends called him "Daddy Jim". He took me to my girl scout meetings and taught me so many things. I was Daddy's little girl and very spoiled by him.

In the late 70's, he came down with Alzheimer's and didn't know me half the time. In 1979, when I was engaged and planning my wedding, he told family friends that he didn't know who that young couple was but he kept driving them off and they always came back. He also said my Mom was the "Old lady that lived in the tree"

Even though Alzheimer's had taken his mind, on my wedding day I got the best gift a daddy's girl could ever get. Before he walked me down the aisle, I asked him what was happening. He knew exactly what was going on. He told me that his little girl was getting married. That was one of the last times his mind was lucid.

Dad passed away, June 1981, right before his 81st birthday. Even though there was a vast age difference in my parents, I never saw them fight or have an argument.

I still miss my Dad and Mom, who passed away July 1994.

My Dad died when I was 17. I was a Daddy's girl. He owned a grocery store. My Dad whistle complete songs. He whistled while he worked . My Dad could do anything he put his mind to. He wanted a boat, he built one. We needed a bigger house. He lifted ours and put a basement under it. No matter what he did , he always did an amazing job. After supper my Dad would sit on the couch in the living room. I would snuggle up with him, and he would brush my hair. I can still remember what he smelled like. It has been almost 32 years since he died, I still miss him

Originally Posted by Jack31

My dad is much younger than the other fathers written about so far just 55.

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My dad is only 57, almost 58.

My Dad died 25 years ago when i was just 24 I was a daddy's girl, and i still miss him even now He had his own carpet fitting business, and 9/10 there was always a roll of carpet on our staircase that was ready to be taken out the following day to be fitted, so i made good use of them and slid down them