24 years Ago

[Racerbvd]

My father left, since then the holidays just don't mean as much. To make harder this year, 2 friends lost their separate battles with cancer last week. I may look like Santa, but I feel like the Grinch.
I sit here on the river, where he and I shared some good times, a toast to you dad, as i smoke a cuban cigar and drink gin in your honorr (we don't start the scotch until after 5)
I miss you..

[Rikao4]

well B if your feeling bad & sipping sorrow....
scroll about ..
you'l find folks who have it worse..
some especially so right now..

Merry Christmas Byron

Rika

[Jims5543]

Sorry for your loss, envious of the relationship you had with your father to miss him that much. My family is whacked.

Oh and yeah, screw you and yours feelings there is a kid that was bullied on you tube that will make you feel better.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

Sorry for your loss, envious of the relationship you had with your father to miss him that much. My family is whacked.

Oh and yeah, screw you and yours feelings there is a kid that was bullied on you tube that will make you feel better.

Wasn't always the best, he was a hard nosed SOB, but as I grew older I realized it made me a better man.

[rwest]

Byron,

You've done well for yourself because of or in spite of your upbringing; take solace in that.

Best,
Rutager

[Danimal16]

This is the first Christmas without my Dad.

I have many fond memories, and will miss him.

Take solace Byron, your Dad loves you, as evidenced by your post. And best of all you love him too!

[pwd72s]

My dad was a bit of a hard ass too. Funny, I needed the time..just as you did. Hey, we've managed to stay out of jail and support ourselves. Our dads did their job, right? Enjoy the stogie & the booze..

[KFC911]

Byron, I think you start a similar thread just about every year in memory of your dad...he must've done something "right". Sounds as if life is throwing curve balls at you as of late....keep on swinging for the fence buddy !

[WPOZZZ]

I feel ya, Byron. My dad died on 12/12/77, so today makes it 40 years. Grandpa died 12/9/76, so the holidays were not a happy time for us.

[sc_rufctr]

I know how you feel Byron. I lost my dad almost 20 years ago and I still think of him often.

"Always keep going - You will end up where you're meant to be!"

Magnus Walker

[rfuerst911sc]

Byron I lost my father in 1995 and he also was a tough son of a gun But between him and my mom they guided me on a path that made me who I am today . I was tough on my two boys and they turned out well so there is something to that style of parenting . As we get older ( I'll be 60 in January ) we start to see friends/coworkers/family members pass away it is the normal process of life . Cherish each day you have and enjoy each day the best you can . Hang in there buddy .

[slow&rusty]

Byron - I'll sip a Hendrix with you anytime.

[Evans, Marv]

Hey Byron and others who remember your fathers fondly, consider yourselves lucky. I've said before both of my parents were the sort of people who shouldn't have had kids. My father was very distant and cool. I didn't feel much when he passed. That's unfortunate, but he wouldn't have felt anything if I had passed before him.

[Baz]

Good post - and thread, Byron.

Perfect for this forum.

Paying homage to one's parent(s) is a privilege not everyone has - so let's rejoice and give thanks.

My father passed away in '68 - so about 9 years after this photo was taken.

A disciplinarian but balanced with love for his boys and a desire to see them educated on many levels.

Thank you, Dad....

[Jim Bremner]

I think that your Dad did a fine job making you who you are!

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Hey Byron and others who remember your fathers fondly, consider yourselves lucky. I've said before both of my parents were the sort of people who shouldn't have had kids. My father was very distant and cool. I didn't feel much when he passed. That's unfortunate, but he wouldn't have felt anything if I had passed before him.

You were lucky, I was considered to be a "pimple on the azz of progress." Mother was an angry parent who was always seething just under the surface. If they didn't tell me anything at least they didn't lie to me.

Then I think, am I like that to? I just can not look down that long hall of mirrors anymore as there is nothing down there that I have not seen before. So the answer is NO, I have undone the ball of string that wound them up. I have deconstructed myself to the bottom of my soul and have reconstructed myself. I had scant support and no appreciation of that endeavor. I accomplished it out of my own relentless determination. I now reside in the transcendent land of milk and honey.

Everybody is in varying degrees of deconstruction and construction in their lives. New facets are always revealing themselves, it is just a matter of how much you are paying attention. To get to where I reside you have to have a pointed and expressed will to go there. The price is high because you have to strip yourself naked of everything you have or know while looking at yourself in the mirror. Then there is the element of time, simply most of you don't have enough left. Ohhh it is a cruel joke to realize that you have been believing a lifetime of lies.... most people find that out when they gasp their last.

[john70t]

Hopefully this is my middle years, but I've come to the realization that I was in 'stuck on stupid' mode for a long time. Feelings and memories are just part of the electrical swarm ecosystem in the noggin and it don't change the world just sitting there. Life is what it is and then it is no more. My dad passed four years ago but he's always around somewhere. Just now I'm still realizing all he did.

I think your dad would be proud of you and what you've accomplished so far.
Hey not many guys can do handstands off of bicycles.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Really sorry Byron, like has been mentioned before, take solace in the relationship that you had together. I don't by any means have a bad relationship with my parents, it is more of an absence of a real relationship. I do envy those who can count their parents among their friends, and hope that I can simultaneously cultivate that relationship with my kids while also steering them on the right path in life.

Btw, you have one hell of a pretty place to enjoy a drink and cigar.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

....

Btw, you have one hell of a pretty place to enjoy a drink and cigar.

I've sailed, fished, and dank more than a few beers in Byron's back "yard"... a LOT

[peppy]

Nice to remember your dad in such a fond way. I too revere my old man ( lost him in 94). I tend to forget the ass chewings and the whippings.