Happy Birthday!

Born on February 7, 1951, he was a precocious kid. My grandmother had film of the before and after of him chasing the chickens and getting spanked for it. She showed that to her grandson with extreme glee.

He graduated from Sunnyside Senior High Shool in 1969. He went to YVCC. I recall a story he told about how he and several other malcontents took the college newspaper and changed the headline: "No Butt Flicking On Campus" (about cigarettes) into something much more...shall we say, x-rated. I also recall a trophy he won for being the fastest driver through town in legal way...although I suspect legal may have been a stretch...and I think some of the details may have slipped his mind...

In 1972, he was married. In 1974, he helped produce nothing less than a miracle: Me. About five years later he helped create someting a little less wonderful (at least to me at the time): my sister (love ya, sis!). Since then, he has worked, cooked, cleaned, and suffered through physical malodies like the best of them. Yet, he has remained steadfast and stubborn.

It is from him that I learned to appreciate ships with big guns. He stirred in me the interrest in aircraft. He made me slightly interested in trains, even (don't tell him). He is none other than my father.

Happy Birthday, Dad!! I hope it was a good one! I am sorry I did not get the chance to spend it with you, but I hope last weekend was a weak second. I don't call anyone else MY DAD.

Here is Cora and my dad on the hangar deck of the USS Kitty Hawk on the day of her decommissioning.

Here is how his grandkids see him...as we call himon occasion, Grandpa Camera-Face.

Without him, the world would be missing a very crucial thing...me!

Oh, yeah. And these would not be a part of the family, either...

Good Job Dad! Happy Birthday!