Centennial

[fbhjr]

100 years ago today, my father was born.

In the over all scope of history, 100 years isn’t very much. But, when thinking of my father, it seems like a long time.

In August it will be 15 years since he died. But, considering his father only live to be 49, my father living to 85 was doing very well.
I’m between those two ages myself as I write this, and certainly hope to push the limit even more.

He and I never really got along. But, we never really didn’t get along either. We just had very little in common. And, what little we had was mostly things I had tried to create for us.
For years we played the violin together.
For even more years we played chess together.
But, that was about it.

Even though we both are/were engineers and engineering managers, our careers are nothing alike.
He worked 52 years for the same company.
In my 29 years as an engineer I’ve worked for 9 different companies.

He knew people who had been in the Civil War.
He was born during World War 1 and participated in World War 2.
He graduated high school and college during the great depression.
He saw King Kong when it came out.
For a short time he believed Martians were attacking when Orson Wells did his broadcast.
He was engaged to two women at once and had to flee the state our family had been in since the country was founded with the woman he chose to marry.
And, that did not work out well for him.
He once went to Sweden and was declared an “honorary Viking” because he could down a double shot of whatever they were drinking in one gulp.
He got mad that others in his group were given the same honor when they didn’t manage the feat.
He traveled to all 50 US states and 4 of the 7 continents.
He had three children. I am the only one who married. To the best of my knowledge none of us have children, so he has zero grandchildren.
At the time he died 2 of his 3 children wouldn’t speak to him. I was one of them.

Those were a busy 100 years…

I haven’t been up to visit his grave in 11 years. It’s about 6 hours each way from where I live, so it isn’t a place I can casually stop by and visit. And, there is nothing else in the area for me to do while up there.
I can drive past the place my father grew up, and his father, and so on back for a couple of centuries.
But, it hasn’t been owned by anyone in the family since 1935, so all I could do is drive by.
Burlington Vermont is about 40 minutes south of there, and there are things to do there.
Who knows, maybe I’ll make a trip.

Anyhow, for the very little it is worth, I raise my Diet Pepsi in memory of my father.

Comments

[hindustar.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[tjoel2]

It sounds like he lived an amazing life.

[ravena-kade.livejournal.com]

I'll raise my diet Pepsi with ya as your Dad may have been an odd guy, he has given us a good guy to be friends with.

[chalcedonygrey.livejournal.com]

[clinks glass]

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

*cheers*
thank you for sharing the story

[chaquir.livejournal.com]

*cheers*

[merilune.livejournal.com]

Very interesting, your father was around for many interesting events. I especially like that he became a "honorary Viking!"

[cissa.livejournal.com]

Another glass clink!

Burlington is really amazing. Both the restaurants we ate at were marvelous. If you do go up, I'll dig up their names in case you want to try them.