FATHERS DAY AFTER CLASS IN SESSION

My Fathers Day go-to family picture:

A thirty year old man with three sons and a wife who looks like Jackie Kennedy taken in 1960.

The old man has an expression asking, ‘What have I gotten myself into.’

It’s a father’s look, the same look over the gates.

It never gets old.

That’s me in the middle. Yes, the middle child, the spare. Lol

Thirty-one years later it’s the same picture:

 

 

A college degree was a big deal for the family, especially my dad.

No one expected him to get that far, and he had plenty of chances to give up.

He could have quit after Junior College at COCC on the rock, but he didn’t.

He could have quit at Southern Oregon, but didn’t.

Instead of walking away he stuck it out and walked across the graduation stage.

Could have gone back to working in the woods like he did during high school summers.

Or he could have re-joined the Marine Corps.

Instead of a thirty year old graduating with a bunch of kids, he could have been the senior man with stories to tell of what could have been and how he got to where he was, whether in the woods or in the service.

But, no. He lined up with his kids and wife and got it done.

I followed in his footsteps thirty-one years later with one less kid and nine more years.

It was a big deal for me.

Classes were decided on the time slot since I was working full time.

I finished with noon hour classes and night school.

A senior seminar on the origins of WWI? At night? I’m in.

My kids heard this a lot in high school:

‘If you want to go to college it’s never going to be easier than it is right after high school.

‘Or you could wait until you’re forty with three kids and a wife who insists you make something of yourself, as if you’re not good enough already.’

 

The Old Fathers Day Plan

My father planned on quitting the insurance business at forty and start teaching and coaching.

It was a message that sunk in with his boys even if he let the deadline pass.

One is a national hall of fame high school wrestling coach, one is a softball state champion coach, and I was a rec-league coach running two teams every season from soccer to basketball to indoor soccer.

Two became teachers, so they listened.

Every Father’s Day is another year away from seeing my Dad.

It’ll never get any closer, so if your dad is still around, do the right thing next year.

He may appreciate it, he may not, but everyone else will.

That’s when you’ll find the same expression on your face you’ve seen here: What have I gotten myself into?

Warning: It never stops.

With the right family you never want it to stop.

On the day after Fathers Day you’ll know which one you’ve got.

I’m on team Never Stop. (T-D-M-K-A-I)