He would've been 76 last month. Only gone for 1½ years. It get's easier over time but never better.


Dad with his two (2) babies.

The 86 was nice when he got it, but the 87 Regal Turbo was my drool. I loved that car. I was 23 when he bought it new. He would never let me drive it, smart guy!!

He passed his car passion down to you. That is one great looking Regal and I love the turbines on the gold Fiero.

I am sorry for your loss.

My Father passed in 2011.......He was originally a car nut- British sports cars; Morris Minor Traveller, MGTF, etc....His best was a Jowett Jupiter...That made other British cars look normal in comparison.....We were into boats also....I wish I could show him some of the stuff I've done recently to the boat and the Fiero; Custom aluminum "B" pillars, a billet nose cap for the boat(He was a Metal smith at NAS Alameda). I miss him greatly...But I was very lucky to be his son(Don't know about his luck tho.....

I have a suggestion for you; Take a few minutes a day, and write some of the funny or amazing things you and you Father did together.....Keep adding until you have something you can let your kids and grandkids read- they will love it, and it will give you some good memories. I have approx' 4 pages of stuff.

Take care!

quote Originally posted by cvxjet: I have a suggestion for you; Take a few minutes a day, and write some of the funny or amazing things you and you Father did together.....Keep adding until you have something you can let your kids and grandkids read- they will love it, and it will give you some good memories. I have approx' 4 pages of stuff. Take care!

That is a beautiful idea! I love it.

Another tip is if you have any photo albums that do not have captions, write a little caption about where the photo was taken, approximately what year, and why the picture was taken. Like these photos, if in the future your children are looking through the photos they can read that this is Grandpa with his turbo Buick Regal and his Fiero. My grandpa has photo albums filled with pictures of people and places that I have no idea who or where they are. He has passed so I cannot ask him. I would love to read in his own words why the picture was taken and who was in it.

I have started to put captions on my old photo albums but will do more.....That also is a great idea!

I am writing a book (Basically) about all the ridiculous stuff that has happened to me...mainly camping, but also cars, boats, at work with aircraft, etc....I like to see the absolute ridiculous of life (My life IS one big ridiculous)....

It really doesn't have to be that hard tho....Write out a story when you think of it(May bring up another one as you do) and then go on about your business....If you are busy and think of something, a sticky note in your wallet until you have time later will help you.

For those who still have Fathers living.....Go grab him and give him a hug- I wished I'd done that more often, but our family wasn't really into that.

FieroTony,

Since this is your thread, would you like to tell us a little bit about your Father? Like maybe who he was, or what he did for a living, or where he is from, or any stories that you think of fondly?

Also if you just want to share the pictures and not get into more, that is totally okay.

I just came across this thread and just wanted to say how impressed I am with the character quality of many people on this forum (you know who you are) and this thread is another fine example. I am so happy that I found this cyber place!

Van

quote Originally posted by DeLorean00: FieroTony, Since this is your thread, would you like to tell us a little bit about your Father? Like maybe who he was, or what he did for a living, or where he is from, or any stories that you think of fondly? Also if you just want to share the pictures and not get into more, that is totally okay.

Thanks for the kind words.

He was born May 17, 1941 and grew up in Baltimore, MD. He had several odd jobs before he went to work in the late 50's - early 60's for Allied Metal Finishing where he had the task of grinding out the imperfections of auto bumpers after they straightened them. After that they were re-chromed and sold. While there he bought his 61 Impala. He dated my mom for a little over 5 years before they married on June 22, 1963. He told me that he was looking at the Vette's until he learned of mom being pregnant. I was born June 24, 1964, so he ended up getting a 64 Chevy P/U. He was just about drafted. He actually went for the physical. That night, President Kennedy announced that men with children or one in the oven did not have to go just yet. Not exactly sure when but he started his apprenticeship with the union as a brick-layer. That lasted until the late 70's. It was some hard work. He then went on to head maintenance for a local retail chain. He could build or fix just about anything. I never saw him get into the cars (i.e. pulling engines, tranny's, ect...) like me though. I exchanged many pictures and texts of the Fiero engine out, (3X), though. Mom died on December 15, 2005, ultimately due to smoking. I never started and asked her many times to quit , she never did.

I'll be celebrating my 28th wedding anniversary this October with 5 girls later. One of the most important things that my dad taught me, (without him knowing it), was how to treat a woman. One of his very last texts to me was him telling me how proud he is.

His last conversation with my now 18 year old daughter was one of confidence in her which seems to have put her on a different [positive] path in life.

There, now you've done it. My keyboard is getting wet.

Thanks again,

FieroTony,

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your Father. I think it is so amazing and wonderful that your last communication with him was him telling you he was proud of you. Coming from him, and all he was, saying he is proud really has a lot of weight. You are lucky to have had him as your guide through this world, he sounds like a man that worked really hard his whole life and cared a lot for his wife and family.

You mentioned he taught you how to treat a lady and he did such a wonderful job you have stayed married 28 years and with 5 daughters, that is impressive! His generation treated woman differently, I feel it was one of the last times chivalry was still around. I mentioned my Grandfather passed away but my Grandmother is still around, and while she is of an older generation than your Father was she has shared her opinions about men and woman and husbands and wives. According to her, people use to be very happy contributing to their own roles in the family. Grandpa worked, cut firewood, fix the cars, handled the mortgage, disciplined the children, saved her from spiders, kept her warm at night and always was there to stand up for his children or help them walk something off. She was a school teacher, when her children were young she stayed at home, made breakfast, did the laundry, got the children up for school, went school clothes shopping with them, made sure they were all clean and looking their best at church bright and early every Sunday morning, had warm dinner waiting when Grandpa came home, rubbed his feet when he was sore from work no matter how bad they smelled, and she kept him warm at night.

She says that men treated woman with respect and compassion, and women returned the favor. Their family lived just above the poverty line the whole time, money was so very tight, but they were happy. In fact she said almost every family in town was happy, this was a very mixed race and culture town and many people lived with different traditions and cultures but they all had more or less the same family unit. She said that once people started thumbing their nose to regular family life and treating it as backward or shameful that families started falling apart and people became unhappy.

It all comes back to treating a woman right. Happy wives, happy lives. A good family unit is a very beautiful thing.

It sounds like your father worked hard to teach you the way to make a family work, whatever way that is. I am happy for you, And here is to your Pop for being a great Dad!

I, too, am so grateful for my dad and that my daughter (who is only 3.5 yo) has him in her life. I hope he will be around for many years so she can have him at different phases in her life like I did.

I didn't realize you were in MD - perhaps our paths will cross one day. You should head up to Carlisle later this month! My dad and I are going together!

~ Jen

So sorry to hear about the loss of your father. Lost my dad in 2003 and my younger brother last August.

One thing I've learned since then is that so many people are dealing with loss. The suggestions in this thread are excellent.

If posting in this forum helps you grieve, please do so. Those of us who are hurting with you will read what you write.