Fathers's Day - My Dad

It's Father's Day so I thought I might do a little post about mine. When I was young I just knew my dad did something important. I really didn't know what it was though. I just knew when my dad went to work he may not come home for 6 months or more sometime. I would talk to him on a special phone and I would ask him where he was and he would stuff like the North Pole or "I can't tell you" and to make it even more odd, he was telling the truth. You see my dad was on a submarine for a great deal of his life. He worked for the Navy for over 40 years and is still certified to be on a nuclear submarine. He fought in one of the most important wars. He fought in the Cold War. The United States is really the only superpower left in the world and my Dad had something to do with that. If you have ever seen the movie "Hunt for Red October" that is what my Dad did...for real! It is strange though I think his greatest acts have been toward me. I remember the Navy recruiters would come to my house my senior year in high school by the droves. They thought I should be in the Navy too and most of the people I graduated with did just that, but I wanted something different. I remember telling my Dad that I wanted to be a band director. He just said "You better the best one I ever saw." I told him OK. He has taken care of me and my family as long I remember. I will never forget one day in my younger days of band directing, he and my Mom came to see my band at the Walterboro competition. We won everything with a band much smaller than the others. He was walking down the steps of the stadium to leave and looked at me and just gave me a thumbs up. To me that meant the world. I don't know if I am the best band director but I will never stop trying to be just that. My Dad is to thank for all the work ethic I have and that is has made all the difference. Thanks Bill.

Today my dad is retired and works in the yard a lot. We have him to thank for most of our beautiful flowers. He was recently name volunteer of the year at Cypress Gardens. The picture is of the USS Hado. I think he liked that submarine the best.