We lost Pop in 1994. His last 10 years were a struggle but hardly anyone outside the family knew how sick he was.....he wasn't a complainer and he had a zest for life that kept him going long after his heart should have given out. He was the family jokester, the class clown, and could figure out a way to fix anything. He made friends instantly......at his memorial service at the beach (beer, bonfire, fireworks, etc. - he wanted a Viking funeral but the Coast Guard looked askance at setting a perfectly good boat on fire and pushing it out to sea) I started talking to a young man I didn't know and asked him how he met Pop. He said he was the respiratory tech at the hospital (my dad was only in the hospital for three days when he died). I asked if he came to all his patients' funerals and he said, no, that he and Pop had talked a lot the first day (Pop was on a respirator the rest of the time) and that he felt a "spiritual connection" to him and wanted the chance to honor him. That made me cry.
My father was a long-time Boy Scout leader, a leader in our church, and very active in the community. He was also active at my school.....WAY too active for my taste sometimes. For instance, when we had our yearly Latin Club banquet, parents were invited. A few of the mothers would drape themselves in bedsheets and show up, but Pop went out and got a fantastic Roman soldier costume, had me teach him a few Latin phrases and showed up at the banquet claiming to be bearing a message from Julius Caesar. Needless to say, our Latin teachers invited him back (and he attended) for several years after I graduated. I was pretty humiliated the first time (you know how teenagers are....), but got used to it after a while.
He also made himself a perfectly horrible caveman outfit out of an old fur coat, with a scary mask and fright wig, and liked to hide in the bushes on Halloween. He'd jump out and chase the kids. I was pretty humiliated for years.
Even though he's been gone for over 20 years, I still think about him daily. He was special. He was a good, moral, honest and honorable man who worked hard for his family, his country and gave his best to his company. I loved him dearly, even if he did break my "Hair" album the first time he heard it. He had strong ideas about what was proper in the house and a song about masturbation didn't fit on that list.
