I tried to think of something funny about my dad for the funny stories thread but really cant remember anything. But the things I remember were the great things he did big or small. Well I will start with this. Dad was a smart man, retired to florida at 37 years old 1968, five kids Im the only son. Dad buys a boat 21 foot trihull 65 hp motor no kicker no marine radio, no gps, for us in those days. We lived in Pompano beach and launched out out of Hillsborough beach inlet to go fishing in the ocean. We brought along the neighbor and his son. We went out just far enough that you could still see land. The gulf stream current carries us far to the north, I dont know for how many, miles while fishing. All of a sudden we look to the east and the sky is black down to the water it was, or wasnt, a waterspout , it looked like a curtain.You could not tell sky from water. We watched it ,at first fascinated. Then all of a sudden, we were horrified when the curtain just dropped from horizon to horizon. Im thinking Bermuda triangle stuff. Well by this time we were probably 15 miles north of the inlet. The storm came on. We desperately tried to make it back for either four hours or seven, I dont remember. I dont even know how we could have lasted that long with the fuel, but we werent going full throttle, we thought we would run out of gas. Me and the neighbor kid stayed under the bow. The waves were at least thirty feet high, this was a twenty one foot boat and you could look up way beyond the bow to the top of the waves. The only way we could make headway back, was to power up the wave to the top, and then turn sideways and drop down the other side so the boat wouldnt plunge the bow into the next wave. My dad could not see through the windshield from all the rain, so our neighbor hung on to the top in the back and poked his head over the canvas to tell my dad when to turn. Dad just wanted to go straight toward land and beach it. It was sixes at this point. The two dads battled and battled and never gave up, and we finally made it back to the inlet. Once back on the intercoastal it was all sunny and calm, but the ocean was still in its fury.I will never forget how we were saved that day by the bravery of those two dads.
General Discussion
Dad Hero Stories
My Dad was the smartest man I ever knew!The best thing he did was make Me be right beside him when,fishing ,hunting or fixing anything! He always said pay attention your are going to use this some day!WW2 vet,greatest generation,been gone 30 years and miss Him every Day! Grandad
Not a hero but my Dad did leave an impression. He and a friend took me and my brother to a Cubs game when I was about 5 or 6 in the 1970’s. On the drive home we had a car full of young guys basically chasing us. I remember their car right on our bumper as my Dad and his friend discussed what to do. Suddenly my Dad did the last thing I wanted him to do and pulled the car over on the shoulder of the Kennedy Expressway. The other car pulled in right behind us. Me and my Brother watched in horror as my Dad and his friend got out of the car and charged the car behind us. The young guys in the car apparently realized they were in trouble and locked their doors and hid inside the car as my Dad and his buddy kicked at the windows of the car. The car sped away never to be seen again. My Dad never seemed the type before of after this but I saw it with my own eyes so I knew he had it in him.
Interesting thread...
This isn't hero stuff, but definitely a defining moment that I remember quite well and changed my path in life.
It was 1989, I had just graduated from high school, and I was 18 years old. Since turning 16 I had worked as a cook at Kentucky Fried Chicken (still can't eat the stuff to this day, but I digress) making $3.35 an hour.
Shortly after graduation KFC offered me $18K per year (roughly $9 an hour) for an Assistant Manager position. I had no intention of going to college, it was huge raise, and I was stoked!!
Excited about the potential and extra income, I came home from work, and proudly told my Dad that I was going to be the Assistant Manager at KFC for almost $20K per year. He looked at me plainly, shook his head, and said "No you're not"
I pleaded my case, but there was no turning my old man around. He looked me in the eye and said fast food is not in your future, and you have 3 choices son.
- Join the military (He didn't have a preference on which branch)
- Get a trade, electrician or HVAC and he'd happily pay for technical college
- Get out of his house and pay my own bills. He also informed me that if I chose this option, my car, my bed, fishing poles, snowmobile, downhill skis etc. didn't leave his house.
I knew I didn't want to join the military, and also knew I couldn't afford to live out on my own, so I opted for HVAC.
Since graduation in 1991 I've never been out of work a day in life, and it has been a perfect trade for me. Over the years it grew into something greater (and much different) than I would've ever thought.
My old man saw a skill in me that I didn't see in myself, and he chose my career path for me - and I couldn't be happier about it.
Without my old man's direction, I'd likely be managing a fast food place somewhere.
God rest his soul - Thank you Dad!
Not much for hero stories from my dad. He wasn’t always the nicest when I was young, and sometimes still isn’t. It just is what it is, but a lot of the memories aren’t the hero kind. I’d like it to be different but I’m not whining. His life was rough and he’s been through a lot of crap. He improved with age and did much better with my two younger siblings, but it wasn’t easy for my older brother and myself growing up.
I do remember him saving my younger brother while sledding, one of the few times he did stuff like that with us. It was some super fast going and we were in a hay field near our house. He was waiting at the bottom for my brother, about 4 or 5 at the time. The sled jumped the track and he was flying, far off from where he was supposed to end up. The old man was humpin it just as fast as he could go in the snow and laid out and managed to snag the back of his sled about 15 feet before he would have ran into a bunch of small saplings. Could have been bad.
Mom, she carried us out of our burning house when I was 5, stuck us in the 79 Chevy and warned us to not move a muscle. Watched her run up the road with no socks or shoes in the dead of winter to call for help while my older brother and I sat and watched the house burn through the windshield.
Nah, it ain't that bad. But you never know! She nags him a bit more than back then.
It comes down to how much time do you have when the ball is in the air to make the decision whether to intervene or not. On one hand, you make the catch and things go on status quo. Or you whiff the catch and spend a few days listening to it in a hospital room after a couple of hours of peace before she comes to.
Decisions, decisions.
Nothing that heroic but we were at County Stadium when I was 8 or 9. Brewers we're playing the Royals and dad got mez seats from a sales guy at work. We had our own usher who'd get what ever we wanted. It was decadent compared to what we were used to. Anywho, after a dugout clearing brawl, which was awesome when you're 8 or 9, some Royals player fouls one back high and deep. It's lining right for us right at my Ma's kisser. She's screaming her lungs out and dad, who likely had about the equivalent of a sixer at this point, calmly reaches out one handed and snags the ball inches from her face! I still have that ball!
Go Crew this season!
