My Pops

Today is Father's Day, and I thought I would jot down a few thoughts about my dad today. 

Sadly, my dad is no longer with us.  He died in January of 2005.  Apparently he had gone to work that day and was in a meeting room, when he got up to walk across the room and just crashed to the floor.  Some coworkers attempted to revive him, but he never fully regained consciousness.  I got that dreaded call from my mom that things were not looking good and that I needed to come back home.  After I got there, I saw my dad in the hospital on life support, and was able to say my goodbyes before the decision was made to take him off support and let him go.  I'm not sure if he heard what I said to him, but I'll always assume that he heard and understood.

One thing that I'm very thankful for is that my family had just been to Georgia for Christmas to visit my folks.  As part of that trip, my dad and I drove to Nashville TN to watch the Broncos (he was a big fan) and the Titans play on Christmas day.  We spent the night up there and drove back the next day, just a one on one road trip and football game with my dad.  We had a great time.  And about a month later, he was gone.  I'm thankful that I had just gotten to see him and that we had nothing that needed to be cleared or settled.  I had the epitome of closure, but I had no idea that I was getting it when I did.

My dad was a great guy, and I really wish my current day friends could have gotten to meet him.  He was one of the best diplomats I ever knew.  I don't remember him ever really losing his temper (angry, sure, but never out of control angry).  I always remember him as never being one to tell you you were wrong outright or insult you.  He'd be more like "you may want to consider if you do that, this might be the consequence", and that always made you think and more often than not, change to his "side" of the argument.  As a family friend once told me "he could call you stupid and you'd never even know he was saying it".  He was very involved in his church in Augusta, and he was in the choir and did singing gigs all the time. 

When my dad died, there was literally a non stop procession of people for over an hour who came to his viewing.  He was held in very high regard by a whole lot of people.  I was asked today if Father's Day is hard on me since his death.  The answer to that (for me anyway), is that no, it really isn't.  I often wish I could talk to my dad again and that he could see what I'm doing with my life and meet my friends.  Today is no different.  But I have no regrets about my life with dad when he was around, and that makes things a lot easier. 

I could write a whole lot more primarily random and great memories I have of my dad, but I'll leave that to future posts.  So for now....here's to you, dad.  Thank you for all you did for me and taught me, and I hope one day we'll be together again.