Examples of why your dad is/was awesome

[punkass]

My dad worked 90 hours weeks for most of his life as an owner of a corner grocery store/deli, and then later lowered it to "only" 70 hours a week. When he retired, but my mom continued working as an owner of a cleaners/alterations, my dad was with my mom all the time. I never heard him complain about hours. Never about how life was unfair, even when he got held up 3 times and shot at once. Never when his liver started going bad, and never during his last days when all I can think was he worked all his life, and could only enjoy a year and a half in retirement.

Work hard, play hard was his motto. I try to live by it everyday.

[Ricky_Bobby]

When my dad was in high school he used to ditch school to go to the library.

When he was in the Army in Germany in 1967 he volunteered to got to Vietnam to prove to himself that he could do it. He was awarded a Bronze Star for preventing a friendly fire attack, almost certainly saved someone(s) life.

He worked as a coal miner, which was a great job in southern Illinois, back in the late 70s and early 80s until the mines started to get shut down and he got laid off. I remember him taking care of me and my 2 brothers while mom went to work as a music teacher. He passed the exams to get his insurance and series 7 (I believe) license so that he could apply for a position in my hometown as a stock broker. I can still clearly remember when he came home with a brand new 1984 Oldsmobile 98. At one point he was working 60-80 hours a week to build his book of customers.

He taught me how to work on cars, operate machinery, cool stuff like that.

It's funny when I think about it that when I tell him a big pot I won or a big loss at poker (microstakes) he says he wouldn't have the stomach to take those kinds of risks.

If I had half of his ambition and willingness to take risks I'd probably be 10x more successful than I am now.

[BretWeir]

He was a high school basketball star and through his late 40s would still play pickup games with guys half his age and 5 inches taller than him (he's 5'8") and routinely whip them.

He's also great at mildly inappropriate off-color comments. When I was in college, he was driving me and three of my buddies to JFK Airport. When we pulled onto Flashbush Ave. in Brooklyn he says (loudly) "Flatbush, huh? She must have been wearing some tight pantyhose!"

[johnnylovescandy]

-1st chair violin in LA Philharmonic at age 15

-Hand impaled by brother age 16 ending short violinist career

-joined US Air Force

-later became successful business owner

-took me on road trips all over US as kid

- [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] too bad he's dead now [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

edit: he'd surely kick my ass knowing I waste time posting here...

[No_Foolin'?]

Because he divorced my mom and left the state when I was 3 and my sisters were 7 and 9.

And because we saw him like 3 times since then.

He rules.

[DirtyDiggs]

Hmmm,

My father was killed by a drunk driver right after I was born, so I'm probably subject to some suspect stories about him, but some great stories that have been verified.

1. My dad was about 14 or 15 and showed up at my uncles place all dirty with ripped clothes. My uncle was 23 at the time, married with a kid on the way. He said to him, "I just got jumped by 3 kids at the gas station that tried to steal my money and I'm pissed." My uncle said, "I would be too." My dad said, " Yea, one of them got away and now the front part of my wallet has a rip in it."

2.) My dad broke his ankle coming down for a rebound during basketball season of his junior year of high school, only didn't know it was broken. He walked around on it for three days, aggravating the injury to the point he had to have pins put in it. His ankle could only move vertically, with no lateral movement. His primary sport was baseball, as a pitcher. He still threw two shut outs his senior year and was able to pitch his way though D II on a scholarship.

And one that I haven't been verified, but my favorite...

My dad took over chief of operations of a nursing home at the age of 25. He apparently kept a stong rapport with the residents. When one, well in to her seventies or early eighties, confessed to him that she had breast cancer and would be on leave for treatment, he told her "I'll miss you and you clevage" with a wink. She died just under a year later; in her will she left her first push up bra to my dad.

[Planetist]

Both of my parents we're just over 20 when i was born. The money was really tight so my dad had to sell most of his huge vinyl-collection to get some money for the family.

My dad did also sing in couple of bands, including a rock-band called... Rock. They were interviewed to several music-papers. He did also sing in a hardcore punk-band called Penis Surprise. Their songs include "Sperm operating flashlight", "Incredible torture" and "A Ton of Frozen Meat".

He pretty much always has high-quality weed.

[TheNoodleMan]

When I was a kid I got pissed about something and said "Jesus Christ" in front of my Mom. She told me that the next time she heard me take the lords name in vein, she'd make me read a book of the bible.

When I told my Dad, he suggested that I say Hugh Heffner instead.

[NajdorfDefense]

Gordon Moore offered him a job in 1972. 6 chip/networking patents. 1 still recently cited by Xerox, Sony, Samsung, etc.

Taught me chess and poker and gin rummy [such a great game] and how to be a man, and power of compound interest, and how to throw a spiral, x-over dribble, hit a 180-yd fade.

[ROADHEAD]

When I was about 7 I got into my first fight and was sent to my room by my mother. She said wait until your dad gets home for your punishment. He came home came into my room acting all pissed off and then said "did you at least win" I told him I did and he said "good, or else you would be in trouble" that was so cool of him.

My father and I were never really close and one time he came home with tickets to go see the Steelers, our favorite team. Myself, my dad, and my brother all went, and after an awesome game, we ended up going to the Nudy bar because thats where a bunch of my friends were going after the game. This was so cool, me and my friends ended up putting some money together and got the strippers to bring my dad on stage. They took off his shirt, handcuffed his hands behind his back and beat the hell out of him with his belt. He was so embarrased, it was so damn fun, we were all wasted and he made us swear to never tell our mother.

A third story was about 4 years ago on St. Patricks day, I ended up getting into a bar fight and after defeating 7 guys with just the 3 of us kids that went out, I knew we were going to get into trouble. I saw one of the kids writing down our license plate number, so on the way home as we were pulling into our neighborhood, we saw about 4 police cars pulling into my neighborhood. We got our stories straightened out and I called my dad telling him what happened, adn that I might need bail money. He told me to come home and later that night the cops rang my doorbell and shined their lights into every window of my hosue for about 3 hours straight, we just sat on the ground in his room out of range of the windows, and just told funny stories and reminisced, it was definately a great father son moment that I will never forgot, he definately had my back that whole way.