run n rate - 2019-01-14 2:57 PM

Thank you all again...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2447306695284028&set=a.10685...
"Dad's favorite" did a great job writing that!! What a true Man, true representative of his generation. May he rest in his well-deserved peace. . . .

run n rate - 2019-01-15 1:16 PM

Had to share a recent memory with dad because it represents who my dad was to his core and the values that we are missing today.
Dec. 8th 2018 my dad had not been feeling very good, he had been napping on the couch. As the pre-game for the Army VS Navy football game came on dad sat up and I grabbed him a cup of coffee, walked back into the kitchen to get him something to eat and his morning meds, as I walked back into the living room the National Anthem started. Dad set his coffee cup down and willed himself off the couch to stand and salute, on feet that no longer were getting enough blood to them due to agent orange and severe vascular disease. There in our living room where no one else was around to see or have an opinion about a little frail old man too weak to stand, he stood. Because that is what he had done his entire life, stood for our flag and for this country.
That moment made me more proud than all the years I walked by his awards from the military hanging in the hallway of our home. Who you really are is who you are when no one else is watching.

run n rate - 2019-01-15 12:16 PM

Had to share a recent memory with dad because it represents who my dad was to his core and the values that we are missing today.
Dec. 8th 2018 my dad had not been feeling very good, he had been napping on the couch. As the pre-game for the Army VS Navy football game came on dad sat up and I grabbed him a cup of coffee, walked back into the kitchen to get him something to eat and his morning meds, as I walked back into the living room the National Anthem started. Dad set his coffee cup down and willed himself off the couch to stand and salute, on feet that no longer were getting enough blood to them due to agent orange and severe vascular disease. There in our living room where no one else was around to see or have an opinion about a little frail old man too weak to stand, he stood. Because that is what he had done his entire life, stood for our flag and for this country.
That moment made me more proud than all the years I walked by his awards from the military hanging in the hallway of our home. Who you really are is who you are when no one else is watching.

run n rate - 2019-01-16 12:39 PM

We were very lucky kids...both my parents were raised during the Depression. My mom's dad was an engineer on the railroad with no work. They would bring them back to work 1 day out of the year to keep their engineer license up to date but other than that for a few years they followed the crops and picked crops from NE to WA or anything that kept the family together including helping work on the Grand Coolee Dam, working in a lumber camp where my grandma and great aunt cooked for the crew and my mom and her younger sister were in charge of washing dishes for the camp (they were 4 and 5 years old). They lived one summer in a cave and another summer in a wrecking yard as my grandparents worked as carnies. Best part of that was that my mom and her 2 sisters learned to make everything an adventure.
My dad's family had a farm so he grew up knowing where his meals would come from but still with 7 kids, you got 1 pair of shoes for the year, if you outgrew them too bad and you took them off when you got home from school. After their corn was harvested Grandpa would open his fields to anyone to come in and let them take what was left that had missed the harvest and dad said often times a pig or two would be shared. My dad ran away from home at 16 to join the Marines, his 3 older brothers were already in one branch or another and Uncle Ozzie was lost in Okinawa. Dad's youngest brother followed into the military when he graduated also.
Because of mom's upbringing she was a natural cheerleader and supporter of underdogs. Because of dad's upbringing he taught tough lessons but was also incredibly generous . My older siblings never got to experience dad being their football or baseball coach, they experienced long stretches of dad being stationed overseas. My youngest brother got the dad that was the coach but with that the pressure of being the coaches son. I'm 6 years older than my youngest brother, I was the built in catcher for pitching practice and built in route runner for football, so glad he never played basketball much, I hate basketball, LOL!!! Our house was always full of kids from dad's teams. Most of whom attended his 80th birthday party up on his beloved mountain property 8 years ago, I think we had around 100 people up there and let me tell you, its a rough drive up 47 miles of very rugged "goat trail" to the cabin. Dad had a knack for finding well hidden "gems".
I say he taught tough lessons but the kind that stay with you and make you a better person. For instance, one year during our fair which was held in July, I was 12, I had my sheep showmanship class early in the morning and then my horse show later that afternoon. I got up feed the animals that were not going to the fair, loaded my pony and headed out to the fair. That night when I got home dad asked me "Did you water all the rabbits", I said "I checked all the water..." Dad said "That isn't what I asked you, did you water all the rabbits". I told him that I had filled the water of the ones that were low and skipped the ones that had water in them...Dad was furious. I was told that the next day I would not eat or drink from 8 am till 8 pm. Again, our fair is in July and often here it is 105+ and can run as high as 110-114. That day is ingrained in me forever. I felt like crud, thought I was gong to pass out showing my showmanship rabbit, and cried after getting out of my market class with my lamb just because I was so thirsty and hungry and miserable. Mom popped me on the butt and told me to suck it up. Tough love.
My dad passed on January 4th, that night I was out feeding the horses, I crawled up over the panel from one pasture to another and looked down at the one mares water tank, it was half full. It was raining slightly and supposed to continue raining, for a second I thought to myself, that's plenty of water for tonight. Then I thought of my dad and that lesson that day. Crawled back off the panel, grabbed the hose and filled her tank. Lesson learned dad and thank you for always holding us to higher standards.

Chandler's Mom - 2019-01-16 7:46 PMY'all were very blessed as a family. I love these stories you have shared with us--thank you.