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OT: Things That Remind Me of My Dad
By JLP | May 7, 2008
I realize that this stuff isn’t personal finance-related but it is one of the ways that I can honor my dad.
My dad’s been gone over two months now. I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about him. Most of the time it’s just me thinking to myself that I can’t believe he’s gone. Then other times it’s certain things that remind me of him.
1. Warren Buffet or anything to do with Berkshire Hathaway - My dad was a big fan of Warren Buffett and was a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder. He used to tell me over and over how I needed to read 101 Reasons to Own the World’s Greatest Investment
2. Every time I use his calculator. - A few years ago my wife and I bought my dad a Texas Instruments BA II PLUS calculator. As a kid, I remembered dad sitting in his chair with pages and pages of numbers. He used to sit there and “figure” stuff. So, I bought him a calculator and tried to show him how to use it but I don’t think he ever took it beyond simple math. All that, “Push the “2nd” button followed by the #5 button…” didn’t sit well with him. LOL!
Anyway, after he died I found his calculator sitting beside his chair and mom told me to take it because she wouldn’t ever use it and nobody else in the family knew how to use it. So, it sits on my desk and I think about dad every time I use it.
3. Every time something cool happens with this blog. - Other than my wife, my dad was my number one cheerleader when it came to my blog. Strangely, he NEVER left a comment on any post. I don’t know why. But, I knew he kept up with what I was doing from time-to-time. I also called him frequently to discuss ideas and to tell him when a magazine or newspaper mentioned me. He always thought that was cool and he would brag to everyone about it.
4. Every time I see a cool new car. - My dad was a car nut. He LOVED cars. I remember him taking me to car shows when I was a kid. I’m pretty sure he was a major influence in my car tastes. A month or so ago, I saw a new Jaguar XF and even though he was already gone, my first thought was to call my dad and tell him about it.
I’m sure there’s a lot more things that make me remember him—I just can’t think of them right now.
What about you? What reminds you of your parents?
Topics: Personal Growth |
May 7th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Everytime I see a show on about WWII or sailboats I think of my dad. I cannot go to his home without seeing “Wings”, “Modern Marvels” or some really old war movie on.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
1) My dad was an assistant superintendent with the school district in charge of curriculum. I still see teachers around town that he worked with, and they always say wonderful things about him and he’s been gone for over 18 years.
2) I still have some simple pieces of furniture that he made. These are highly prized.
3) I’ll never forget the day we were visiting and he told me how much he really enjoyed just talking to me. I try to remember to do that from time to time with my children and other people.
I still think about him nearly every day. Thanks for your post.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
That’s rough man, rough. My Dad is up in age as well and I don’t look forward to that at all
May 7th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
My dad died this past January- he built a vacation home on a lake in Michigan. I spent all of my summers there since I was literally 6 weeks old (47 years ago). Normally we go there in spring to get the place ready for the summer. I havn’t had the chance to get to the cottage since he has died, but I am sure his presence there will be intense. Like you I miss him and think of him everyday, I was fortunate that he lived a good long life, but I’m selfish- it wasn’t long enough.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I’m glad you posted this. Finance related or not.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Vanguard, bogleheads, and personal finance.
My dad is an avid contributor to diehards.org and runs an investment management company so anything having to do with money reminds me of him, including this blog.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
My dad is one who is willing to make a scene when the situation calls for it (and sometimes when it doesn’t). If he can’t get service at a store he’ll waive merchandise in front of the security sensors or (when we were little), he’d put me or my sisters on the counter and let us start playing with the cash register. That usually sent them running.
Another time he refused to allow his insurance company to be charged to have a few stitches removed from his hand - he’d found out (after making the receptionist make quite a few phone calls) that it would cost $150 just to get through to see the doctor. He declared he’d “chew them out himself like a dog” before he’d pay that. So he left and went to the fire station and offered $50 to anybody who would take them out for him. They declined due to liability. He ended up pulling them out himself. “It was easy!” he loves to tell people, “and it cost me about $3 in supplies.”
It’s more often embarrassing than not, but I think of him whenever I feel the sudden urge to make such a scene or obstinately stand my ground over anything. I get that from him.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
This is quite a moving post.
I lost my father about 23 years ago. I still think about him.
The hardship he must have gone through to raise all 6 of us. The risks he must have taken. The help he must have given to others and received from others.
Since starting my blog, I have wondered whether this would have made me talk to him in depth, about his life etc.
Anyway, the best I can do for him now is to pray for him and do charity under his name.
Thanks for sharing what must be deep personal thoughts.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Thanks for sharing. I can’t imagine how much you must miss him. My dad is the one person (besides my partner) whose loss would rock me to my core.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:22 am
My father died 20 years ago. At a time when Dads worked during the day and didn’t interact much with their children in the evening, my dad (who worked graveyard as a longshoreman) was a “hands-on” parent, more so than my mother. He had avid hobbies, like carpentry. All the bookcases and dressers in my home were handbuilt by my father. I think of him everytime I see them. He had a darkroom, and his photographs are all over my house. He loved fresh strawberry milkshakes, and to this day, whenever I have one, I think of him.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:52 am
My dad died last December. He loved to help me with things around my house and property. This spring as I have started my spring cleanup, I have thought of him and how he would help.
Yesterday I thought of him as I looked down at the threshold he repaired on the laundry room door. Every time I go to the west side of my house to water flowers, I remember how we discovered and cleaned out the drain.
I was mixing cement to patch a floor and thought of him a couple of weeks ago. When we cleaned out that drain, we mixed cement to repair it.
I miss him - and I expect that, with every season that I go through this year, I’ll have new things that remind me of him.
May 8th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Very nice tribute to your Dad. Mine has been gone quite some time, but my Mom’s still quite well at 92 (pushing 93), living on her own with no help, going up and down the stairs each day to the basement to do the laundry, tending her garden, acting like she was 60 (my age).
With respect to finances, my folks always encouraged me to save, from the days I shoveled snow and cut grass in Kansas (yes, we’re all from Kansas) as a tad of eight years old.
My only REALLY bad “investment”: my stamp collection. Starting in 1957, I bought every stamp, every plate block, every sheet that came out, thinking I would be rich when I hit 60. Well, I’m 60, and all those stamps are worth, well, about double what I paid for them.
But, heck, the mutual fund my folks bought for me when I was 21 (still have it) isn’t doing so poorly.
Yes, my Mom’s still in the family home in Kansas.
Yours,
Bozo
May 10th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Very moving post, JLP. I think about both my parents all the time, and thankfully, they are still around. I know that one day they will not be though. And I know that will be a tough day. If there is one thing that will always make me think about my Dad, it is the song, Sittin’On the Dock of the bay, by Otis Redding. My Dad loves that song, and is from the San Francisco Bay Area. I guess I love that song too.