Fondest Memories
By dorannmwin
@dorannmwin (36392)
United States
June 18, 2010 6:37pm CST
With Father's Day being this weekend, I find that I am thinking more about my father than I usually do. I lost my father when I was nearly fifteen years old. So, I'm unable to give my father a father's day present. Instead, I think about the fond memories that I have of the time that I did get to spend with my father.
My favorite memory of my father is the last time that he ever had the opportunity to see me swim. It was the last regular meet of the season and I didn't expect anyone from my family to show up because it was an away meet in another city. As I was climbing onto the block for my first race of the evening, I heard on voice above the rest of the crowd. It was my father, he'd taken off work early and driven to Frankfort to see me swim. This is a very valuable memory to me because he worked long hours and didn't always have time to spend with his children.
Please share the fond memories that you have of your father with me to help celebrate Father's Day.
3 people like this
8 responses
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
19 Jun 10
my dad teaching me at 15 yrs, to shoot a rifle. how to do a lot of things on his farm. because id spent most of my life before that with mom. he had made me the boy he never had. and always told me i was his favorite.
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
19 Jun 10
nananana..niner, neener, im first
2 people like this
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
20 Jun 10
@Bunnybon,
So, maybe by this time you are already a sharp-shooter. i am scared hehehehe...on a second thought i am safe and protected with you. How's your dad now? what have you done to make this day special for him my friend?
@sender621 (14893)
• United States
19 Jun 10
Father's Day is a difficult time for me. I lost my father ian auto accident when i was 16. I still miss him very much. I do not even live close enough to visit his gravesite. I live on the opposite coast. I have wonderful memories of my father that I am happy to carry in my heart. We used to go camping a lot when I was younger. I just wish I would have shown my father more appreciation for whaat he did when he was still with us.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Jun 10
That is another thing that I realize I didn't do quite right when I was younger. I was almost fifteen when I lost my dad and even though I know that he loved me, I'm not sure that I shared that I loved him quite enough.
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
24 Jun 10
My dad used to take us out on Saturday mornings so mom could sleep. He'd go shopping and buy stuff we weren't supposed to tell mom about and then we'd go out for pizza.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
27 Jun 10
Sounds like you had a lot of fun with your dad on Saturday mornings. I do remember that my father would pick about once every couple of months and have "dates" with us. This was another time that I cherish having had the opportunity to share with my dad.
@besthope44 (12123)
• India
14 Aug 10
Thats really nice to hear. I have my best memories, the times i started to ride my bicycle. It was great fun to see my dad, becoming a teen age boy and doing magics!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
16 Aug 10
I too remember my father helping me learn to ride a bike. It is a great thing to have a father that genuinely cares about his children. I was blessed with only fifteen years with my father, but the memories that we created together will last me a lifetime.
@Professor2010 (20162)
• India
20 Jun 10
Hi doran
We don't observe this festival which you call Father's day, but we have similar. Well i lost my dad in 1965 Jan, he was such a nice but very strict person, what ever i am now in life, all i owe to him, i miss him each second, his first name was SUKDEO, as a mark of respect i have named our paternal home as 'SUKDEO BHAWAN', BHAWAN means home..
Thanks for sharing.
Welcome always.
Cheers.
Professor
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Jun 10
I love the fact that you named your home after your father. Thank you very much for sharing a piece of your culture with me.
@LadySam52 (31)
• United States
19 Jun 10
dorannmwin I could write a book about all the fond memories I have of my father. He passed away on 10/18/1987 and not many days go by without me either thinking about him or talking with someone about him. He was a school teacher and I attended the school where he taught. He was a wonderful father and a great man.
Some of my fondest memories are of the Saturday mornings we had together. I come from a family with three girls, no boys, but, Daddy was a part time farmer when he wasn't involved with the school or the boys he taught. If I did my household chores on Friday night or early, early Saturday morning, I could go to the farm with him, just the two of us. We stretched barbed wire and cut down mesquite bushes, before the became trees. Sometimes we walked the fence rows looking for sections that needed repair, then repaired them. We pumped water from the well into water troughs for the cows and made sure they were all present and accounted for before we went back home.
But it was just as wonderful having him chaperoning a school dance and asking each of his daughters for at least one dance before the dance was over. This was the 60s so doing the twist with Daddy was probably the highlight of our night!
He was there for almost every major life event until my children were in high school. And he was there for them as much as he had been for my sisters and me.
No matter how much time goes by, I still often wish that if I could have one wish, it would be for one more hug from my Daddy.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Jun 10
You wish and my wish are very much the same. It doesn't matter that he showed that he loved us all the time, it still never feels like it was quite enough. Thank you very much for sharing some of your memories.
@sissy15 (12329)
• United States
19 Jun 10
as I think about my father and how much he can annoy me now because he complains about every little thing and can't take a joke and sometimes puts me down thinking of it as a joke of his but sometimes I wish he could say something nice when I do something good, but I also can't forget how glad I am to have a father especially because you and many others have lost their fathers. As a child he was always there to watch all of my plays and watch all of my award ceremonies and went on all of my field trips. I was always the kid he took with him when he went somewhere and the one that got away with the most. I was much closer to him as a child and never noticed anything that annoys me now. My dad used to be my hero until I realized the things I do now but I still love him and feel blessed to have him annoying and all. He did things like take me and my brother camping, and used to take me mushroom and berry picking. He used to get out the hose and spray me and my brother with it until we screamed to stop he would take us on long walks he was a good father for the most part when I was younger. He was cheap a lot of the time and made me go to school when I was sick and sometimes wouldn't answer the phone when I called to go home because he left (he was a stay at home dad) but when I add everything up the good definitely out weighs the bad my good memories are pretty much every day activities we did with him and how he used to take me every weekend with him to go to the store or get something to eat without my brother or my mom. I was also the only one that could talk to him when he was mad I had a very close relationship with my dad as a kid. As I have said a few times now I am grateful to have my dad around no matter how much he can annoy me at times.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Jun 10
I tend to believe that those people that we are close to will always have different traits that are annoying to us. I'm glad to hear that you are grateful to have your father around.
@zsarhea (302)
• Austria
19 Jun 10
awwww...thats so sweet..i had tears in my eyes reading it,dont know why but it fells down on my cheeks...maybe i just missed my father too.My parents are far from me.
The most touching moments i had with my father is when i got pregnant.I was the only child who graduated college,alot of future is awaiting for me,had alot of accomplishment at school but then on my graduation day i was already 3 months pregnant.When i told it to my parents i know i disappoint them because i should be helping my siblings first plus i dont have a husband to take care of me.I was expecting them to be mad at me but they didnt,they just gave me advices.My father is there every moment of my pregnancy,he will get or buy fresh fruits in the morning and buy alot of stuff for the baby (not even born yet).Not a single day that he wont have something for my me and my baby...he is a great father and a grandfather.Now that im working far away from them they are taking good care of my daughter.I just wanna say to all how lucky i am to have my father.I am so blessed to have a parents like them.Happy fathers to all the fathers out there.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Jun 10
I wish that I would have had the opportunity to have seen how my father would have been with his grandchildren. When I hear stories of how wonderfully grandfathers are providing for their grandbabies, it makes me sad because it is something that Kathryn and Paul have never had and will never have. Even the grandfather that they know (my husbands "Dad") isn't even related to them genetically.