Because I feel like it

[LittleClarkie]

And because I've talked about him. And because I've been sort of depressed lately since I realized it's been a whole year since he died.

And besides: he was a sailor too.


About 2 years old


You could always tell a picture was my dad just by looking at the eyes if he was smiling. They always looked like that when he smiled.


Another sailor, another puppy


Right out of high school. Dig the hair.


His raw recruit photo. We had one just like it, only with no mostache. Took us a while, but we finally realized he'd drawn it on the picture to see how he'd look.


Must have liked the way it looked, because here he is with a real one.


First baby, first home.


Can't forget the Navy wife, can we?


Moving up, spreading out. Dig the car.


Not too long before the stroke. Looks like Burl Ives, doesn't he.


Not too long after the stroke, he did insist he was getting to his friend's daughter's wedding. It was tough, but we got him there.


Not long before he died, taken by a very proud Marine with a brain tumor in the next bed over in the nursing home. I went to see him every day for four years and broght him home every month. Looks strong, doesn't he, despite the chair. I'm glad he remained relatively strong until the end.


Full honor guard, 21 gun salute. My siblings gave me the flag even though I'm the baby. They figured I'd taken care of him the most so the flag belonged to me.

Hope you didn't mind me posting these. Felt like sharing, and they're all on my photobucket account for just that reason.

[JI7]

1. that was beautiful

thank you so much for sharing the pics and the story about your dad. it is nice you have such great pics of him throughout his life, especially the young ones.

one year isn't that long and you can post here anytime you want to talk about it.

[LittleClarkie]

2. Thanks

I have this sort of... Buddah thing going on in that last picture, don't I.

I've been working on that, or rather my doctor insisted I work on that.

I was not nearly so circular by November 2, 2004.



Don't let Bill Maher tell you Dems don't do the religion thing. I got proof to the contrary, as you can see.

[sandnsea]

3. Don't take my kodachrome away

I swear that's what's playing right now. I love your pictures. Your dad looked like a wonderful guy. There's a playfulness in his eyes, but steadfast too. I'm so sorry for your loss. It really never does get easy, no matter how old are loved ones are.

[TayTay]

5. I still mourn the loss of my Dad and it's been 16 years.

I talk to him a lot still. I remember how he used to laugh at me and all my silly, resilient idealism. "The world was designed to break your heart. And someday it will." And I knew what he meant when died and my world shrank a bit.

But broken places can heal. Time doesn't erase the sutures that you used to slowly stitch your heart back into place, you still feel them at the oddest moments. But you begin to feel lucky that you ever had such a presence in your life to begin with, that you had someone to talk to, dream with, laugh with and so forth. I remember all the times I took my Dad to see the Red Sox games and we sat out in my favorite seats in the bleachers and we both got a little high from all the wacky tobaccy being smoked out there. (What a time!) So my Dad, very courteously in my oppinion, showed up last fall and watched all those playoff games with me and we debated the outcome.

"Money baseball, Theresa Marie, Money baseball, These bums can never win." And I saw the ghostly twinkle in his see-through eyes.
"But Dad, without faith, what are we? Of course, I believe, I will always believe."
"And that's why the world will one day break your heart, because you have rock-solid hope against the mere certainty of experience."
"You're one to talk. Who do you think gave me that hope, that sense of never giving up. That's your doing, your influence."

And I did hug him when those heart-breaking losers finally won and I know, I rock-solid know, he hugged me back. And I also know that he has never left me and I know he never will. I see him when I hug my own kids, forgive the latest fight with my son over something that seemed important at the time but really wasn't, and I see him when I find some new wonder to stare at with passion and interest. Because he gave me that and I can only hope to pass it on. It's my tribute. And he never really left me. I have taken him with me everywhere I have ever gone. He is in my heart, in very safe keeping.

May it be, in time, the same for you.

[karynnj]

4. What a wonderful memorial

The love you have for your dad really shines through. His eyes seem to twinkle with a smile both as a very little boy and in the picture of him when he was older. He looks like a very kind man with a sense of humor. This is such a wonderful way to observe the date. Best wishes getting through the day.

[ginnyinWI]

6. sympathies, Clarkie

Looks like you had a wonderful relationship with your dad. You'll always have the memories.

[Lavender Brown]

7. A beautiful tribute to your Dad

:hug:

[Pirate Smile]

8. This is lovely, LittleClarkie. Your Dad would be proud.

You are a wonderful daughter.

[politicasista]

9. Thanks for the pics LittleClarkie

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

10. Oh, my God....

Your picture labeled first baby, first home, looks almost exactly like one I have with me and my mother and father, although I was a little bit older, and my dad wasn't in the service (rheumatic fever as a child). That nearly took my breath away. Those are lovely photographs.

[seito]

11. Wiping tears from my eyes

That was a beautiful tribute. It has been a year and a half since my father died. :hug:

[elshiva]

12. You're father was a very handsome and noble man.

Thanks for the moving photographs. I am so sorry for your loss. I'm a daddy girl too, if he dies...I can't bear thinking of it. My daddy was a sailor, too, and a conscientious objector during Vietnam.
Your father seems to have been a wonderful father. Rest assured, he is still with you, still guiding you.
You are a very beautiful woman. I like the picture of you praying. I am a religious person, too, and some of the most religious and holy people I know are Democrats. Google the great theologians, M. Shawn Copeland, Diana Hayes, and John Welch, OCD, they are all Democrats.

[LittleClarkie]

15. Thank you

Dad was a good guy. Whenever someone would say I was a good daughter for going to see him every day, I'd get uncomfortable and say simply, "Good dads deserve good daughters." I wish I'd been able to do more. I never wanted him to have to go to a nursing home. The least I could do was go if it kept him sane.

I ended up getting into the newspaper with that picture. First of all, I was the only one wearing a hoopla hat. I'd been aware of the photographer on that side, but it didn't occur to me that when I "assumed the position" as it were, that she'd take my picture. But, as soon as I closed my eyes, through my closed lids there was flash... flash,flash and sure enough. She came over and asked what I was doing. Just what it looked like, I replied.

I got razed by my freeper friends later in the week, who used the photo for a Mastercard-style "priceless" spoof. Bastards.

[elshiva]

16. "You are more than welcome"

It's easy to be a good daughter when you have a good dad.

It's called a "hoopla hat?" LOL.

You should be honored that you got Freeped with a Mastercard "priceless" spoof. Kerry had a priceless spoof, too. "John Kerry: Hair by Kristoff's (sp.?): $75...Another liberal elitist posing as common people: priceless." Bastards. My response "Dubya another warmongering Bush posing as president: $200 billion dollars and counting..."

[WildEyedLiberal]

13. That's so lovely

Thank you for sharing this piece of you, LittleClarkie. Your dad will be with you always as long as you carry his memory in your heart.

[LittleClarkie]

14. Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Here are a few more

Might as well shoot the wad, photobucket-wise.


Trailer Dad and first-born female child again.


Xmas. Had a hard time identifying him in this one, 'cause the kid ain't smiling. But we think it's him.


I love the vintage look of this one.


My extra fat brother. 1961. Mom and dad had us in groups of two with a six year gap, so dad is noticably older and losing his hair already.


The imp.


His "Oliver Twist" phase.


Mom and Pop.


Why does he remind me of John Belushi in this picture. I think it's the eyebrows.


American Gothic. For pete's sake, smile Grandma!

[blm]

17. One of the most beautifully tender posts I have ever witnessed.

Surely he still smiles for you, Lil Clarkie.