FATHER’S DAY LONG REMEMBERED

The one that got away too early. Norman Bayes on Father’s Day.

My wife’s dad passed away when she was nineteen. That’s him with his eyes wide open.

Looks like a fun guy.

From all reports he was a fun guy. Outgoing, loud, opinionated. He’d have fit right in with my group.

He moved to America from England with a stop in Canada along with his wife and first born son.

My wife was born in Ohio, then they all moved to California a month or so later.

What did her dad miss in the passing years?

I’m ten years older then Norman was when he died. He was fifty one, which seems old for a dad. At least to a kid.

Fifty one was a good year, and he’d have had many good years after. One day he was fit as a fiddle with a good doctor check up. The next day he was gone by heart attack.

No signs. It happens.

If he’d been on the scene, we would have had some good times. Since he wasn’t a sports fan I could have recruited him to my teams.

He would have been a fan of Troy Aikman Cowboys, the Derek Jeter Yankees, the Chip Kelly Oregon Ducks. We would have argued about abandoning my teams, because that’s what I do when things take a turn.

I would explain the pain for the Danny White years compared to the pain of the Tony Romo years. We would exchange miracles like the Reggie Jackson Yankees compared to the Jeter Yankees.

We could pretend to be 49er fans because of Chip Kelly football. Kelly’s got a brand of football even a soccer fan might understand.

Norman would try and explain soccer and the reason so many around the world identify with the sport. I would counter with soccer being a great intro to sports and why good players go another direction in America.

He would have met my dad on a Father’s Day event, I’m sure.

They would have hit it off. Norman was in the English Navy, my dad was a U.S. Marine. What could go wrong there?

Norman was WWII, my dad was Korea. It would have been interesting to hear them talk about Dunkirk, Normandy, and how America jumped back in the blood bath that was Korea.

Most of all Norman would have seen his girl turn into a woman he’d have been proud of. He would have been a grandpa to my boys and played games with them like an Englishman plays games.

And they would have laughed and laughed. There’s nothing like a sled ride at snow camp to bring out the best in people. The top image shows the parents and kids my wife grew up with.

If Norman’s face isn’t a perfect expression of glee, I don’t know what is. That picture alone makes me believe he was a keeper who got away too soon.

Remember the dad’s on Father’s Day and every other day. They won’t ask for it, but there’s something that happens to us when we remember them at their best.

If your dad is still alive, tell them the best thing you could tell them, then leave a comment and tell me what it was.

Inquiring boomers want to know.