Comments on: OT: Things That Remind Me of My Dad

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 11 May 2008 02:06:51 +0000

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.

By: Bozo

Bozo — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:42:45 +0000

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

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:52:01 +0000

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.

By: Grace

Grace — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:22:36 +0000

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.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:31:55 +0000

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.

By: fathersez

fathersez — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:55:50 +0000

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.

By: Meg

Meg — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:31:17 +0000

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.

By: tom

tom — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:39:33 +0000

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.

By: Ron@TheWisdomJournal

Ron@TheWisdomJournal — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:18:26 +0000

I’m glad you posted this. Finance related or not.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:26:28 +0000

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.