What were your Father's best traits, his worst? What traits do you have in common?
The traits that I admired most in my Dad was how hard he worked. No matter what he was doing he worked hard and put all his efforts into it. This sometimes backfired because I know there were times in his life that he felt no one else could do the job as well as he could. This caused him to think he had to spend 16 hrs. a day at the cheese factory making sure everything was working the way it he felt it needed to. He worked long hours and rearly took time off. He was always on call and would get called out to the plant a lot through the night. After he retired he worked hard and spent many hours working on his yard. This was something he loved doing and it brought him such satisfaction as he'd plant and care for his garden and yard. He had some of the most beautiful Rose bushes and his home grown tomatoes were always a special treat I looked forward to when we would be able to visit in the fall.
No matter where Dad had to be at any given time, he was always early. He would never enter a meeting etc. late. He would skip the appointment rather than be late. This is something he expected of others as well. If someone said they would show up at a certain time they had better be there or he would be really upset with them.
My Dad had a tender spot for children and they could feel his calming nature. Children would flock to him. He could talk and relate to children much easier than he did adults. He had a quiet nature which children loved.
My Dad was also some what controlling when it came to my Mother. Especially as he got older and his health started to deteriorate. If Mom wanted to go some place without him he would make it difficult for her to do so. So the last few years of his life I was not able to spend much alone time with my Mom (like shopping etc.) because it was easier for her to just stay home with him. In hind sight I really think he was afraid to be alone when he wasn't feeling good.
Dad was always a tease and could come up with the funniest sayings. I'm sure he was always the class clown. Although he was also very quiet and many people didn't know that he was such a tease because only those he was close to saw that side of him.
I guess the traits that I inherited from him are, I hate being late, I love children and I am dedicated when it comes to a job or other responsibilities.
2 comments:
I don't think I knew that grandpa hated being late! I guess I get that from him too! I would rather skip a meeting, appointment, ect rather than be late! He was a great grandpa and I think about him often! It was fun to read these memories!
Mom, thanks for writing these. It is fun to read and reminisce. I am grateful for the relationship I had with Grandpa and with Grandma. Thanks for taking the time and making the effort for us to visit them as often as we could.
Post a Comment