Happy Father's Day!

I drew this picture of dad years back, a picture that expresses my mind's image of dad today. 

Dad and me - the early days.

I've known my dad all my life, however, I rarely sit down and think about that relationship all at once. Today we'll celebrate Father's Day with a good meal and the usual storytelling at the table. This morning, however, I want to take a few moments to think about my most vivid memories of Dad.

My earliest memories of Dad go back to our days on Pilgrim Avenue. We lived in a three decker house. My grandparents lived on the first floor; we lived on the second floor, and a friend of my Nana and Papa lived on the third floor. As I think of those days, I remember sitting in our living room watching black and white television. The two shows I remember most were The Wizard of Oz and Ed Sullivan introducing the Beatles. We had a big yard on Pilgrim Ave, and I also recall lots of fun just running around and playing with family members including my dad.

Dad and the first four of us at Cape Cod. Two more
to come in the years ahead. 

As I grew older, my memories include lots and lots of day trips in nature including Purgatory Chasm, Mt. Wachusett, Green Hill Park, The Quabbin Reservoir, The Public Gardens, Boston Common, and Mt. Monadnock. Almost every Sunday, we packed a picnic and took off to a beautiful natural place in spring, summer, and fall, and then in winter we visited many museums and public events. Dad was always introducing us to new adventures and new places.

When I was headed to first grade, we moved to a new house and new neighborhood in our home town. Dad and Mom still live in that house over 50 years later. Dad got involved in our local church teaching CCD and helping out in the coffee shop. We joined the YMCA and spent lots of time swimming, playing in the gym, and taking classes. As we grew older, he made sure we got to school on time, and supported our interests in the church CYC activities, times with friends, and lots of sports for the younger members of our family. We took two big trips each year--one to the mountains and one to Cape Cod. In the mountains, our ritual include a spaghetti dinner on Friday night, pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, a 6 a.m. start to the hike and a 6 p.m. finish, a good meal, and then another shorter adventure the next day before we went home. At the Cape we spent most of the time playing in the water and on the sand, delicious dinners at the cottage, exploring Cape Cod's special places in the evening, and topping it off with an ice cream cone. We loved every minute of those awesome adventures and looked forward to those trips all year. Similarly in those days, we went out to eat twice a year--once during Christmas time and once during our summer vacation at the Cape. Those meals were very special. We spent a lot of time at family parties too playing with our many, many cousins and visiting lots of aunts and uncles.

During those years we also took many a bike hike, played hockey on local ponds in the winter, and had a few boating adventures too.

Dad's outdoor adventure legacy continues. This is a picture of many generations of our family ready to embark on a hike up Mt. Washington two years ago. 

Dad worked at the same shop for about 60 years. His uncle owned the store and he and his brother worked there. At first they worked 5 1/2 days all year with a one week vacation. Then their vacation turned to two weeks and I believe they had to work every other Saturday instead. He loved his work, but didn't always love the family politics that go along with working for a relative. Dad's mom lived across the street from us for most of our lives, and during that time Dad cut her grass and took care of her. We loved having a second home to go to across the street when our little Cape filled with eight active people was too busy.

Dad infused a love of nature, adventure, and world events in us. Every night at dinner, where we all had our special seats, dad would discuss an article in the paper or a current event. I always enjoyed those discussions and learned a lot from them. He enjoyed watching nature shows with us and talked a lot about places on Earth he read about when he sometimes visited the library during his lunch. That opened my eyes to the world around me. Later he made sure that we all had the chance to go to college, something he did not do. In later years, he and mom had the opportunity to travel a bit more. They especially enjoyed their trips to National Parks out west.

I still talk to dad almost daily and see him and mom weekly. I continue to seek his advice about life's challenges. He typically encourages us to take personal responsibility. One of his statements that has stayed with me is "If you don't speak up and act for change then you have no right to talk about it." He would relay that message time and again during our lives, and it was a message that has stuck with me.

I bring Dad's love of nature, adventure, and learning with me to my classroom and to my own family regularly. Traditions of climbing mountains, visiting beaches, and exploring urban and rural spaces continue. He showed us how to have a rich and good life with average means and the people we love in beautiful, natural and human-made places. I'm grateful for his gifts to me, gifts I hope to continue to pass on to those I love and serve too. Happy Father's Day Dad!