Dad Used To Teach us ---

[jds holler]

My Dad has been gone for two years now, and his birthday was Oct. 30. He woulda been 96. When I was a kid, he was a busy guy, working five or six days a week - often ten hours a day. When I look back, it amazes me how much time he made for our family when he wasn't working. He even managed to turn me into a fair imitation of a man who knows how to use his hands and his back to earn living and be handy.

I was doing one of these projects yesterday, and it dawned on me that it was one of the things that Dad put in me. "If you're gonna break a maul or axe handle, you better get good at fixing them, or even better -- not breaking them."

I belonged to that generation where most of us actually had a dad at home, and he was married to our mother. And I'm sure that he figured that how I came out reflected upon how good a job he did with me.

Can Y'all think of simple little things that your dad taught ya that you maybe take for granted? jd

 

[Charliemac]

We did 2 okie engine rebuilds in the garage. You know pull off the top end break out the ridge reamer and tap out the pistons from below. Then hone the cylinders, new rings and bearings. I still have those little jobbers that go in the oil port to rotate the main bearings out. That has to be at least 60 years ago.

 

[Dimner]

My dad taught me how not to be a dad.


My grandpa however, he taught me to sharpen, fish, swing a golf club and how to make the most delicious cinnamon toast. He was a great guy. Fought in WW2 and Korea and loved life.

 

[1lessdog]

My wife and I went to her sister and brother in law family lake place a few weeks ago. And I watched as my two nephews and brother in law try put a handle on a ax. I sat back and watched them for over a hr trying to pound the head onto the handle. I finally went over turned it upside down and rapped on the end of the handle about 10 times and it was set. I said saw it flush and put the wedge in. I told them the flat part in the end of the handle is for where you hit it.


It's not rocket science.

 

[PaulyD]

My Dad has been gone for 13 years now. I learned a ton of stuff from him. Two things stand out, number one. He would ask me how do you want to be remembered?
Number two, when you get older a good dump is more important than a piece of tail.

 

[hpshooter]

Use vernier calipers, basic lathe and mill operation, rebuild IC engines and shoot prone with a sling.

 

[gambleone]

My dad's been gone for 14 yrs. now. He taught me more than I can remember. He's
right there with me every time I'm on the trigger.

 

[spencerhenry]

I chose not to be a parent after seeing how my parents behaved.

 

[topclass2017]

+1 on teaching me what a dad isn't and/or how not to be a dad. Learned that from good friends of the family who's dad was there through it all, for his boys and me. My grandpa taught me how to be handy with tools and how to make things from nothing. He encouraged my curiosity to take things apart that didn't work, and figure out how to make them work, most (some?) of the time. The rest of the time projects were good learning experiences, the parts of which were never thrown away but put aside for some future project that might need something to make it work.

 

[357Mag]

My Dad has been gone for two years now, and his birthday was Oct. 30. He woulda been 96. When I was a kid, he was a busy guy, working five or six days a week - often ten hours a day. When I look back, it amazes me how much time he made for our family when he wasn't working. He even managed to turn me into a fair imitation of a man who knows how to use his hands and his back to earn living and be handy.

I was doing one of these projects yesterday, and it dawned on me that it was one of the things that Dad put in me. "If you're gonna break a maul or axe handle, you better get good at fixing them, or even better -- not breaking them."

I belonged to that generation where most of us actually had a dad at home, and he was married to our mother. And I'm sure that he figured that how I came out reflected upon how good a job he did with me.

Can Y'all think of simple little things that your dad taught ya that you maybe take for granted? jd

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JDS -

Howdy !

For me, my Dad was the greatest man to ever walk this earth !!
He taught me, well.... everything I know.

He made sure I was baptised into the Christrian faith, and raised " ... in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ".
Pop always led by example, showing everyone what it's like
to " walk in faith ", how to live spirit-filled life; spreading the gospel message willingly.

Pop was a highly-decorated WWII B-25 pilot, who completed 70 combat missions. He was my greatest hero, courageous and fearless; even when living out his life as an NE Indiana farmer.

Colon cancer accomplished what German flak could not, and God summoned my Dad from " this veil of tears " ; after his 68yr
Earthly "' walk with Jesus ". My age has more than doubled since that date. During his last four years of degrading health, my Dad remained " Joyous in Hope, Patient in affliction; and
Faithfull in prayer ". THAT'S what you can do, when Jesus guides your life !

I tell you this... if I were 1/10th the Christian my Father was,
I would think myself content. And, while the " fire " of having Pop present in my life has been extinguished... I still feel the
" heat " comin ' off the coals !

With regards,
357Mag

 

[CJ6]

Dad was a farmer and an aircraft mechanic in WW II. Among the many other things he taught me the worth of hard work and the satisfaction of working/fixing your own your own equipment (cars,mowers, etc.).
Looking a person in the eyes when talking and the importance of a firm handshake.

 

[danny]

My Dad has been gone for two years now, and his birthday was Oct. 30. He woulda been 96. When I was a kid, he was a busy guy, working five or six days a week - often ten hours a day. When I look back, it amazes me how much time he made for our family when he wasn't working. He even managed to turn me into a fair imitation of a man who knows how to use his hands and his back to earn living and be handy.

I was doing one of these projects yesterday, and it dawned on me that it was one of the things that Dad put in me. "If you're gonna break a maul or axe handle, you better get good at fixing them, or even better -- not breaking them."

I belonged to that generation where most of us actually had a dad at home, and he was married to our mother. And I'm sure that he figured that how I came out reflected upon how good a job he did with me.

Can Y'all think of simple little things that your dad taught ya that you maybe take for granted? jd

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Yep,

I can't think of something he taught me that I took for granted.

I can actually think of something that he taught me that I still remember and live by: "Don't drink and drive". I have seen what the life of an "expense account liquor man" is like, so I just did the opposite of what he did, and so did my brothers. I am still not even half the man he is. I haven't even gotten my first liquor conviction.

Danny

 

[jds holler]

I chose not to be a parent after seeing how my parents behaved.

There's no shame in that, and I'm sorry for whatever you endured. Also, there's no accounting for how it goes sometimes. -- I had the best folks in the world, and I still went off the rails for twenty years. I was a journeyman alcoholic dope fiend until the age of forty, and then by the grace of God, I was saved from the miserable death I was headed for.

My greatest thanks is for being able to spend the last twenty years of my folks lives as a clean and sober son such as they deserved and should have had all along.

Here's a pic of our family the weekend of my marriage in 2000. (the one that worked) Dad was my best man the next day, and I think that maybe both of us have never been prouder. jd

 

[338 Mollett]

My dad taught me how not to be a dad.

I won my third State racquetball title before he ever said congratulations . And that's after digging post holes all day and train after .

 

[Lucky Shooter]

My dad allowed me to enjoy a great life and was very willing to share
his outdoor activities.

He told me one thing that has served me very well over the years---you don't
have to be a friend or buddy with anybody but you owe everybody
courtesy and respect.

On narrow country roads, get over the right when going over hills. He taught me
to drive on such roads.

Go downhill to find water. I've never needed to find water but know to go dowhill
to find it.

Don't be talking when the dogs are close to birds.

Much more in the realm of common sense

Both my parents have been gone for a long time and I think if them often
and feel sorry for people who don't have good parents----I had it made and sometimes
wasn't smart enough to know it.

A. Weldy

 

[TSFineGuns]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my father, it’s how to not be a father. Sure, he taught me a lot, and I use what he’s taught me a lot daily. But he was barely around, wasn’t much of a role model, was very emotionally abusive to my mother, sister, and me. What I take away from our relationship most, is what I don’t want to be as a father.

All of that has made me the father I am today though. I spend every minute I can with my 6yr old son. I drive him to school, and pick him up every day. We fish three or more times a week. He comes in the woods with me when I go. There’s not much I do that he doesn’t do with me. If I’m in the garage working on something, he’s with me.

So I guess, “Thanks, Dad. For making me the father to my son that I am.”

 

[snert]

My dad was 9 when he and some friends decided to go down to the Ohio river in South Heights, Pa to see if the winter floods had washed away their boat they made. To get there they had to cross filled railroad tracks...lots of them. Climbing over a lowboy, the train started to move. The boys jumped off. Dad, being small and young, was afraid, so he didn't jump immediately. When he did, momentum rolled him under the train where the wheels took both of his legs at the calf.
Two twelve year old boys carried him a half mile up a hill to the road, one foot gone, the other dangling by skin. A passing laundry driver saw and scooped him up, wrapped him in laundry and headed to the hospital. There they finished the amputations. He was in the hospital for months, and went to school for a year on his knees. He was teased and beat up. He did benefit from being in a mill town after WW1 where there were many men with amputations. The "leg Company" in Pittsburgh made him wooden legs.
His doctor had him sitting on an exam table and fitted the leather corsets around his thighs, the stumps protected by dense wool socks, and a waist belt to hold them on. Once tightended down, the Doc went behind him and shoved him off the table onto his "feet". So much for Occupational Therapy! He learned to walk, learned to swim without legs, drove a Standard VW Beetle like a Porsche, took me hunting, walking until the skin on his legs fell off like sheets. He worked 37 years in a steel mill.
He taught me that a disability is usually in the head, not the limb. He taught me to be patient in the face of bullies...usually they forget how they acted and later, sometimes months later, they saunter up as a friend. That's when you punch them hard in the face. He taught me that pain goes with life. He taught me that being handicapped doesn't mean you are less. In fact, in my mind, he was more. In the last years of his life, he recalled the brave boys who saved his life and said he was grateful for his injury, because it likely extended his life...he would have been drafted in WW2 otherwise. He did tell me "Don't play on trains".
I met one of his rescuers when he attended my dad's funeral, which I conducted. That man stood to recall the event, and he said my dad was a brave man. My dad considered him a hero.

 

[JB10]

My dad's still around thankfully. When i was younger we did not see eye to eye at all. I wanted him out of my life. My grandpa who was like a dad to me opened my eyes to life and how my dad was not always bad, i was just at that age in life. I used to cut a lot of hay laying on the floor of a New Holland swather with my grandpa at the wheel. I was about 3 when i started going with him. That man ment the world to me. He passed away September 25th. Just shy of 92. If i can be half the man i will be happy. My grandma suffered 2 strokes last few years and he let himself go in order to make sure she was oaky. His pains got so bad m dad forcehim to the hospital. Most of his bones was full of cancer, cracked ribs from brital bones and other things. He passed the next day. Me and my Dad hav gotten close over the last 15 years and im thankfully for that.

 

[nmkid]

My dad didn't teach me a darn thing! I was 6 months old when I was given to my grandmother. I didn't know it then but that was the best thing my parents did for me.

 

[pintopete]

Interesting topic. On more than one occasion, my Dad has said that the Grandfather that you knew, is not the father that I had. My Dad’s parents, my grandparents, were considerably important to us as kids. They provided stability, unconditional love, support, and kindness. They also loved each other without question. They were depression era people. The effects of which molded their lives in countless ways. I’m very different than my Dad. We get along pretty well, but have had very different life experiences, and as a result, see things quite differently.