November 1, 2012
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My Dad vs Your Dad
When my Dad passed away a couple of weeks ago somehow my mind was drawn to my childhood.
Did you all argue about stuff like who has the best car or tractor? Or whether your Mom's sewing machine was bigger or better than your friend's Mom's? I know it was petty and pretty dumb, but hey, we HAD to talk about something. And what little kid doesn't think that their parents were the smartest, prettiest, etc......
How many times on the way home from school did I hear the Glenn boys "discussing" with the Goods and Bears just who had the most powerful tractor? In our case it was Allis Chalmers versus FarmAll, I believe. Then it was whose Dad was richer or smarter. I don't remember ever joining in these little spats but the memory is still very powerful.
I guess it was the last that made me smile. My Dad was a very smart, self educated man. He knew something about a LOT of things. He wasn't boostful about it but he could keep up with the best of them. If you had a question about anything, he usually had enough knowledge about it, that he could educate you or at least get you on the right track. He grew up in the depression era, was in the military, he had been to Japan and Korea. Been on ships (to and from Korea), could speak Korean and some Greek....enough that the Army asked him to be a translator at times. He also learned some Spanish later in life when he and Mom took in exchange students from Central America. He was a builder and contractor and talked of roof purlins (whatever that was), but could also intelligently tell you how they made plates for the offset printing presses when he was a printer. He knew trees, their leaves and bark, different kinds of rocks. He loved the sky at night. Different constellations, etc. I remember him showing us the space shuttle Sputnik as it orbited around the earth when I was just a little girl. He would call us up and tell us when to look for meteor showers or a comet or an eclipse. (He loved Science!)
The list could go on and on. He was amazing. It makes me sad to think of all that knowlege going with him to the grave. I am sure we barely scratched the surface of all that was contained in his head!
So, I am going to be bold and say what I've been dying to say for a long time:
"My Dad was smarter than your Dad!"
God bless your day.
