Very nice tribute. You were very lucky to have such a father. At 10:59 AM 06/16/2002 -0400, you wrote: >Today is Father's Day here in the States. I've done a tremendous amount of >thinking about Dads in the last few days. > >We didn't have a tremendous amount of money when I was growing up. We always >had food on the table, and our school tuition was paid. We had new clothes, >but nothing stylish like my friends. My friends had the latest, cool toys >and I was pretty envious. During the summer months, my father worked a >second job at night as a janitor, cleaning schools. He did this so there >would be enough money to buy toys for the four children for Christmas. I was >your typical snippy pre-teen, and was very embarrassed, so I told my friends >that my dad taught school at night. Come Christmas morning, the tree was >surrounded by gifts. > >I don't remember a lot of the gifts my father worked so hard to give us. >These gifts that I was so embarrassed about as a kid. What I remember the >most is the time we spent together. He taught me to play baseball in the >backyard. When we went swimming in the pool, he pretended to be a >sea-monster and would grab at my legs. My mother would have to take me out >of the pool because I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe. My Dad >didn't help me with my homework, but he would sit quietly and listen while my >mother reviewed my lessons with me. It wasn't until I was an adult that I >understood why. He never made it past the 8th grade, and would sit and learn >with me. Whenever my Dad went to fix anything in the house, I was his little >helper. > >As an adult, he made it his job to take care of my car. Even though I was >having it serviced, he would still check the tires and the oil - just in case >the servicemen got it wrong. I would come over to visit my family, and my >Dad would be outside, checking my car! If the weather was bad, he would call >me to make sure I made it home from work. I learned a lot from my father - >to be nice to people, to love my country and most importantly, that family >comes first. > >The greatest gift I got from my father was the opportunity to know him as a >human being. You know the old saying - you can pick your friends, but not >your family. My father was someone that I would have picked as a friend. >I'm glad that we were friends. > >My father died in my arms a year and a half ago. It was then that I learned >what it meant to be truly heart-broken. He was a phenomenal human being, and >I hope to be half the person he was. > >I'd like to say thank-you to all the men who are fathers or who mentor a >young person. And also to the women who are wearing both hats of mother and >father. You make an indelible impression on us. You help shape who will be >as adults. No one thinks to thank-you if you do a good job. From the bottom >of my heart - thank you! And have a very happy Father's Day! > >Take care, >Tracy > > >==== IRISH-NEW-YORK-CITY Mailing List ==== >Do you miss receiving MISSING LINKS and SOMEBODY'S LINKS? If so, >just subscribe to: >http://www.petuniapress.com/ > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237