Share one of your...

[strummingram]

Fondest memories with your father.

I remember this as if it were yesterday. I was in 1st grade and it was October 1974 (we hadn't been moved to NC from Petersburg, VA a year yet), and my Dad and I were fishing in the Chickahominy River (staying at my mom's family's "cottage" on the river, with some other family members). Anyway, it's late evening and it's the last cast. My Dad had FINALLY let me use an actual rod and reel (Zebco 202) and a Jitterbug lure on that trip. He says "Cast it over there near those lily pads and see what happens, it's starting to get dark." I do it, begin to reel-in, and SPLASH! This is new for me because I had been using a cane pole for the last 2 years. I was flustered to say the least. He's yelling "Pull back on it! And REEL it! Pull back harder!" Well, I'm getting more confused and I don't wanna lose what's clearly the biggest thing I ever caught. The activity on the line just stops. I'm freaking out thinking I lost it. He grabs it and starts reeling it in. Well, I'm now pissed because I'm thinking "You're gonna steal my thunder, dude! No way!" So, I'm yelling at him to gimme the rod back, he's cussing at me to shut up and let him reel it in. I start crying and pouting. Then it gets to the boat and it's a nice 6 pound largemouth bass. I get the net and bring it in. He then proceeds to convince me "You CAUGHT it, I just reeled it in!" Very diplomatic. He's laughing and I start laughing. We get back to the cottage and I finally get my rite of passage photo at the cottage holding up MY bass with my Dad! All my cousins were like older brrothers and had all caught theirs. My Dad had caught an 8 pounder earlier that same evening.

We got both stuffed and mounted and I felt like I'd "graduated" to BASS FISHERMAN... with my Dad!

 

[outkast da g]

 

[UNC71-00]

Good thread topic Strum. I will respond when I get back to a computer as I am currently and coincidentally enough on a fishing trip with my dad.

 

[nctransplant]

My Dad took me quail hunting when I was younger and told me how and where he would kill his first two birds. We parked the truck walked about 100 yards and the dog pointed. Covey got up and he dropped two on the dirt road. Everything happened just as he said it would. Always wondered how he did that until I became a veteran bird hunter. I still hunt his favorite dogs, Brittanys. I wish he could have experienced quail hunting out here in Nebraska.

 

[heelmanwilm]

To understand this u have to know my dad was incredibly tight with his money. If i did anything that cost him money he would go off. We never used the ac, in winter the house was freezing, He also paid my way through unc though. Anyway my folks came to visit shortly after our daughter was born. My wife of course couldnt work and with the expenses of a baby things were incredibly tight and i literally didnt have but maybe $20 to make it through the week. No matternhow tight though i knew better than to even dream of asking for money and never did. As my folks were leaving and we shook hands (no hugs from him) he slipped me a hundred dollar bill. The only time in my life to this day he ever handed me cash. I went and locked myself in the bathroom and cried.

 

[nctransplant]

To understand this u have to know my dad was incredibly tight with his money. If i did anything that cost him money he would go off. We never used the ac, in winter the house was freezing, He also paid my way through unc though. Anyway my folks came to visit shortly after our daughter was born. My wife of course couldnt work and with the expenses of a baby things were incredibly tight and i literally didnt have but maybe $20 to make it through the week. No matternhow tight though i knew better than to even dream of asking for money and never did. As my folks were leaving and we shook hands (no hugs from him) he slipped me a hundred dollar bill. The only time in my life to this day he ever handed me cash. I went and locked myself in the bathroom and cried.

My Dad helped us when we first got married. He would pay our heating oil bill without telling us. He also knew where his Mom and Dad kept their bill money. He would pay their gas bill by replacing what they paid out of their kitty. I don't think they ever knew.

 

[grillheel]

A lot of great memories come flooding in. One that you guys might find amusing was when my dad decided I was going fishing with him early one Sunday morning. He had a bigger boat but decided we were going to take this aluminum canoe that had a motor mounted on the back. We crossed the Pamlico River in it to fish in Blount's Creek and it was fairly calm early that morning. We fished for a while with very little luck and then headed back. When we came back out of Blount's Creek into Blount's Bay on the Pamlico, it was blowing a gale. We started trying to get back across in this canoe and I told him I had to pee. He asked me if I could hold it but I told him I didn't think I could, so he pulls up close to this duck blind and attempts to hold the canoe steady while I go over the side. Needless to say, it didn't turn out well.

I don't want to sound preachy to you guys (lord knows, I'm the last person to preach to anyone), but if you still have your dads (and/or moms), spend as much time as possible with them. Believe me, it doesn't last forever.

 

[Raising Heel]

This is the second "dad" thread in the last few weeks. I didn't comment on the other one, so I will here and try not to be too much of a Debbie Downer.

My parents divorced when I was very young. My mom remarried a few years later, but my stepfather never made an effort to be a good father...or any kind of father, really. Meanwhile, I maintained a relationship with my dad that was always awkward at best. I'm honestly having a hard time thinking of a fond memory of him. About 10 years ago, he abandoned my stepmother (who the rest of the family adores) without warning. That was it. I became estranged from him shortly after that, as did the rest of the family, and the limited contact he has had with me since then has been nasty and spiteful.

One of the greatest regrets of my life is that I've never really had a dad, or a male role model. That's why I'm jumping in this thread to remind people to cherish what they have. That's also part of the reason I volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Charlotte. My Little's dad, who wasn't really part of his life anyway, died of cancer a couple years ago. My little is only 8 years old and I don't want him to grow up like I did. No, I can't be as good as a real father for him, but I'll be the next best thing.

It's worth mentioning here that my father-in-law is a great guy. He may be a little surly sometimes (so am I), but rarely when he's around me. He love to watch college sports like me so that's something we've bonded over. He's also eager to lend a hand any time I have a two-person home improvement project I need help with. This thread is a good reminder to tell him how much I appreciate having him in my life the next time I talk to him.

 

[Raising Heel]

I don't want to sound preachy to you guys (lord knows, I'm the last person to preach to anyone), but if you still have your dads (and/or moms), spend as much time as possible with them. Believe me, it doesn't last forever.

The fact that your son liked this post made my day.

 

[coryfly]

I have tons but will list a couple.

-I distinctly remember listening to baseball games out in his truck late at night. This is not something I was allowed to do often but back then baseball games were not often on TV. He is a huge A's fan and when they played a team and it was on the radio he would listen in his truck. It was something really cool I remember.

-When my brother and I bought Zelda we were pretty much obsessed with it. We were very close in age though so would play at the same rate. If I were to beat a dungeon or find something then he would play and do the same. Well, we were pretty far along in the game and somehow my game got erased. We happened to be spending the night with my grandmother that night and he stayed up all night getting me back to the spot I was. It was pretty awesome.

There is of course the typical throwing the ball around the yard and stuff like that as well. I am fortunate to have a great set of parents.

 

[heelz2345]

Man, it's so hard to single out one thing, and I know he's gonna read what I write anyway so might as well be nice

However, I'll share a story and like his, it involves my dad and I on the Pamlico River. It was the day of my cousin's wedding, and after the ceremony, the two of us were tasked to retrieve the boat that they would ride to the reception. So, we were riding the boat down the river to the boat dock in our wedding attire. We got a ton of crazy looks from people wondering what the heck these dudes in suits were doing just riding around on the river, but we were drinking beer and having a good time on a boat, which is usually involved in many of our enjoyable stories.

We've had a lot of good times doing a variety of things, and here's to many more! And now since I wrote a nice thing about him online, this counts as his Father's Day present!

 

[heelz2345]

The fact that your son liked this post made my day.

Haha, I do what I can my friend!

 

[BillyL]

My Dad helped us when we first got married. He would pay our heating oil bill without telling us. He also knew where his Mom and Dad kept their bill money. He would pay their gas bill by replacing what they paid out of their kitty. I don't think they ever knew.

Sounds like a great man . .

 

[BillyL]

One of my greatest moments with my dad turned into being a tradition with me towards my 4 kids.

Father's Day 1964, I was 10 yrs. old . . my father has in his hands a wrapped present and he hands it to me and says 'I love you' . . . it was a brand new basketball. The previous November he and I had put up a homemade backboard with goal over the carport for me to play and shoot hoops. I played so much b-ball that I can wear out a ball in no time at all. For a kid that loved basketball, to get a new ball was just awesome . . . keepers, I was so excited that day.
I though to myself how great a dad I had that on a day where we were suppose to celebrate Father's Day, he had given thought towards me.

When my children were growing up, I always made a point of having something for them on Fathers Day, it wasn't always a big item, but, it was always something they either wanted or would have been useful for them.

My parents divorced when I was 16, 8 years later my pops passed away from cancer. He was only 53 . .

 

[gunslingerdick]

I see my dad almost daily. We've been especially close my whole life and have hundreds of "great moments". My dad taught me that there is no greater feeling in this world than to spend time with your children. He's an excellent dad and always was. He chose a profession that provided nicely for us but also allowed the leeway for him to be very involved in my life and my sister's life. I have done the same. I've always said that my childhood was as close to perfect as I could imagine and that if I'm able to replicate it for my children, then I've done pretty good for myself. My dad taught me all of that. And he's still teaching me everyday how to be the best dad I can be.

I'm truly sorry for those that didn't get what I got. I'm very grateful.

 

[GACMAN]

Cool thread.....My dad and I were Grouse hunting in Northern New Mexico and had taken a break on a mountain top above the tree line....probably 12,000' up. We were sitting there discussing our next move...basically trying to talk ourselves out of walking down the big canyon in front of us....what goes down must walk back out!!! It was a beautiful clear fall day with the Aspens changing and the chilling time with my pops was cool....our Springer was sniffing around and loving life as well!!! All of a sudden we start hearing a loud noise and as we look up 2 Fighter Jets come wheeling around the mountain peak we were sitting on....these dudes were obviously humming along at a good clip but the whole scene was in slow motion for us....the jets were close enough that we could see the pilots face and they saw us sitting there...basically locked eyes with the Pilots! After taking in the whole scene and after finding our poor Springer who had tucked his tail and ran...we realized how cool that had been and how lucky we were to have been sitting there...after 15 minutes and another Kit Kat bar...we decided against walking down the canyon!!!!!!