Name One Special Dad Memory!

My Dad worked on Wall Street for 49 years for the same brokerage firm. He wasn't home a lot and often worked 6 days a week. I always tell my Dad that he invented "Take your Daughter to Work Day" as he brought my sister and I with him to work often on Saturdays. In retrospect, this might have had something to do with my Mom's mental illness and being overwhelmed with twin girls and a younger boy, so by taking us, he gave her some relief, however, it does not take away how happy those days were.

If you are not familar with the downtown fiancial district of NYC during the work week, picture this: all hustle and bustle, faster than a speeding bullet. Saturday's though, at that time,( 40 yrs ago) completely different, a virtual ghost town. I can still recall hearing the click, click click, of my shoes walking over some of the old cobblestone streets. Manhattan to a girl from Brooklyn, is a foreign land...everything is tall and imposing, Brooklyn is a neighborhood, Manhattan IS a city. Before we got to my Dad's office, I would beg him to stop at Trinity Church right across the street. I believe it's one of the oldest churches in NYC. The church is Gothic in design, now gray in color, since they washed the pollution off. But when I was a kid it was jet black, only adding to it's mystique. Queen Elizabeth I visited ther many years ago, and Alexander Hamiltion, and Robert Fulton are buried there in the ancient, crooked headstone graveyard. I don't know why, but I had to go in that church and visit the famous graves...this started at age 7, so I have no idea why. Perhaps it was my start for my love of history. My Dad always obliged, and never with a drop of inpatience in his voice. Next we went to "his building" The Equitable Building", 14th floor. We had a great time all day, playing with ticker tape, the office swivel chairs, the new invention, the computer...one man in the office made a computer that made music, it was always a great day. We were even there for John Glenn's original Ticker Tape Parade, which we saw from the 14th floor and threw ticker tape from! I think that was 1962 or 1963 so I would have been 6 or 7 at the time.

My Dad always wanted me to work on Wall Street too...I think at first I disapointed him, by becoming a nurse, but not for long! So here's to my Dad, a Republican and a feminist!

My dad died almost two years ago, and I still miss him. He always insisted that we all had to go to college, and I remember how HE enrolled in an associate degree program the same year my brother graduated, I was working for my BA, and my sister was deciding what and where she wanted to study. He worked 60-hour weeks delivering baked goods (Tastykakes) to retail stores so that we could attend good universities. I was always touched when we met storekeepers, his colleagues, etc., and realized how he bragged about us. He got his associate degree the same month I got my BA, and his managing to do that ("I don't want you kids thinking I'm stupid, and being ashamed of me!") meant more to me than getting my own degree, because of the sacrifice involved.

It is said that the greatest gift, that a man can give his children, is to love their mother. Since Mom's bypass and subsequent stroke, Pop has not only taken over the housework, he's become an excellent home healthcare aid.

Pop monitors Mom's blood sugar, dispenses her pills, injects her insulin (I taught him how to do that, when Granny was alive), bathes, dresses and does her hair. He even gets her lipstick on, straight!

He takes Mom shopping and out to eat, several times a week and takes her with him, on his home repair/yard work jobs. Besides taking care of Mom and running his business, they have 5 dogs and 4 teenaged grandkids, living with them.

Two years ago, he underwent treatment, for prostate cancer (successfully, thank goodness). Even that didn't slow him down.

It would have been easy for him to put Mom in a home, send the grandkids back to my brother and have a pretty cushy life. The thought never crossed his mind. In Pop's moral code, a man takes care of his family and he doesn't simply dispose of a wife, because she gets old and infirm.

Pop doesn't consider himself a hero. By his lights, he's doing what he's supposed to do.

BTW: He's 77 years old.

At my university, students who received Ph.D.s were allowed to have family members walk across the stage with them as they were given their degree. Dad had been an unending source of love and support through graduate school, so there was no way I wasn't going to have him walk across the stage with me. I remember he was tearing up as I got my degree, and I can't tell if he or I was more proud at that moment. I felt I was able to give back a little of all the love he had given me over the years.

My dad was silly and I was embarrased to bring friends over when I was little, but I enjoyed my dads silliness. He would be taking a bath with Zest and singing about cleaning with Zestie between the toesies. Or he would be on the "throne" and ask us to help him out and pull his finger. Also he would be passing gas and flying through the air lifting his leg.....he was silly. He just passed away a little over a month ago.

Dad has been gone 18 years now (is it really that long?). He used to take us camping when we were kids - we didn't have a lot of money, but he loved to travel and see the country. When we would hike (we saw a lot of National Forests), we would whistle the theme from the movie Bridge Over the River Kwai and we would all march in step. And at bedtime in the tent, he had the ultimate ritual - he would sing the Sheik of Arabee and dance around the tent in his underware. At the end of the song, he would dive into his sleeping bag and it was lights out.

Dad was a light hearted man.

My Dad used to take me fishing with him all the time when I was a kid. I remember the first time he took me out deep sea fishing. I was probably 10 or so. It was me, my dad and my grandfather (passed away 4 years ago). I had been out in the boat with him numerous times but never in the ocean. As soon as we started hitting the big waves I got really scared and started crying. I remember my grandpa trying to comfort me, but wasn't sucessfull so Dad stopped the boat. He came over and talked to me and told me something that has always stuck with me. He said I should never be afraid of something unless he is afraid. If he is afraid then it is time for me to worry. I felt better right away and we had a great time on our trip. Once we started fishing, Dad went up to the bow to use the restroom. He told me to hang onto my pole and not let it fall over, well while he was up there I hooked 2- 3ft. sand sharks. I wouldn't let go of the pole and being 10, wasn't very strong. I was falling overboard! Dad saved me just in time, and "helped me" reel in my line. Boy was I excited, I told everyone that story for the next 6 months! (I guess I still am ).