My dad, an inventor, had the skills and foresight to improve upon regular hand tools
for his mechanical minded purpose. Although he never had any formal training, he
could tear down and re-install a car engine using a repair manual as a guide. (I often
read the instructions while he did repairs. (Father/Son time) Both of us loved it.
Dad was also an accomplished gunsmith. No Google. No YouTube. Only an 8th-grade
education.
My dad was a well respected, proud 40-year tenured employee for Air Carrier Engine
Services. Inc. He enjoyed going to work. I never heard him complain.
He was the last to be laid off at the company's demise. I don't think he was ever late or
missed a day at his job.
He would only live 2 years after his retirement. During that 2 year retirement, he
seemed a bit lost and somewhat at-a-loss. He clearly missed work.
I always thought he would open some type of repair shop, but he would have probably
charged nothing for his repair work. Just the type of person he was.
My father had a half-brother. I never met him, however, I did, however, meet his sister,
my aunt, once when I was a teenager. My mother nor siblings never spoke of our
daddy's family in detail.
I do recall one of my daddy's sisters' family visiting us. I never saw my aunt again. My
mom kept in contact with her for quite a while after my father's death. My mom's
health became her priority. My mom did not communicate with her, nor her own sister
on the phone again. I do not know if either of our aunts is currently alive. I never knew
my father's sister's proper name.
The only mother of our dad we knew of, was actually his step-mother. She lived
hundreds of miles away in rural Alabama. I don't know if that disconnect might have
had something to do with his lack of a solemn emotion at her funeral.
I have no other reference to his emotional well being in regard to her prior to her
funeral. I knew he was very excited to travel to see her during our summer vacation. Or
maybe he was glad to just get away from Miami for a while.
I never knew the story of my father's birth father nor my father's birth mother. A huge
void for me. I can not re ect if it was for him.