Fathers’ Day Thoughts
When I was a little boy, my father was the smartest man on earth. He stayed that way until I reached high school, which is when he began to become not so smart. By the time I was in college, he had become hopelessly dumb. That remained the case until I was approaching my mid-twenties, when a strange thing happened. He somehow began to become smart again. Amazingly, he became smarter with each passing year, until at the time of his death, he was again the smartest man alive.
Funny how that worked out.
Happy Fathers’ Day, Dad.
There’s probably a mathematical function that describes the variation of Dadly Intelligence with age (of the observer). And if I gave enough of a crap, I could probably come up with it. But I have practical experience, having had two daughters who could help me plot that curve.
Happy Father’s Day, Jimbo! May your contacts with unpleasant reptiles be few and infrequent.
Comment by Elisson — June 16, 2013 @ 4:30 pm
I gotta agree with you having noticed the same phenomenon myself with my father until suffering the same fate with my son & a lesser degree with my Grandsons….Fate! we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes from generation to generation.
I just recently marked my Dads 104th birthday ….it was a quiet celebration just the memories , the gravesite & the regret I felt for his absence even after 20 years……Rest in peace Dad, really you were the greatest & I love you.
Comment by dudley1 — June 16, 2013 @ 6:35 pm
…… you have some sound wisdom there, fella…….. and I am sure that we can all reap the benefits of it…… may we all be as astute as you….. and as smart as your Pa…..
Comment by Eric — June 18, 2013 @ 9:16 pm
THERE’S a reason that old Indians were respected. Cause they didn’t get old by being stupid. Your father, my uncle Andy, was a voice of reason and calm in a family of hell raising and bombast.He was smart enough to get his family to Kearny, the half way point to a more civilized life. Not that I ever missed or didn’t enjoy 34 Cortland street charm. It just came in smaller packages there.
When Annie got sick at college, Uncle Andy and your mother were there to drive the 200 miles or so to get her. When the New York “relatives”, came there to see Granny for a afternoon visit that turned into a three day weekend, it was your father who sent them home. I can remember seeing a drunken NY man sleeping in a Kelly green suit in the back hallway , without spilling a drop.
Uncle Andy would watch all the kids when we were down the shore and would let us live off hotdogs.When Cousin Michael was pushed into the lagoon for the crime of pulling up someone elses crabline, losing a new $150.00 pair of glasses, it was Uncle Andy who made a game of finding them for $ 10 bucks.
When I bust out my guitar, I usually find time for “the green grass of home.” Even then , he was evenhanded, generally calm, and the perfect foil to crazy uncle billy.
He was smart even then.
Comment by COUSIN GARY — December 17, 2015 @ 9:54 pm