My Dad

Larry D.  That's my Dad.  And I love him so very much even though most of the time he drives me crazy.

Let me tell you about my father.  He was born in Lawrence, Kansas.  Raised in the rural areas of Kansas and Missouri, he has never really shaken that backwoods-farm boy mentality.  Daddy's mother and his biological father divorced when he was barely two years old.  He never really knew the man and has heard that he has two half-sisters that he has never met.

When Daddy was five his mother met and married the man who would become my Dad's father.  He raised my dad like his own son and loved him just as much.  Joe (my grandfather) had a son by a previous marriage who was ten years senior to my dad.  Frances Ray did not live with my grandparents, and though Daddy and Frances Ray got along and called each other brother they really weren't.  They were barely steps as they didn't even know each other very well.  Frances Ray died of brain cancer nearly 20 years ago.  I didn't even know him that well.  And have only met his children once or twice.

Daddy's other brother, Jerry, was born when Daddy was ten.  Though Jerry was the baby and Joe's biological son.  Daddy and Jerry were treated the same, always.

When Daddy turned 16 and it was time to get his driver's license, the state said he had to use the name on his birth certificate.  He hadn't used that name since he was a baby.  His mother changed it to Cauruthers after her divorce and they used his current name since his parents married.  At 16 years of age, he asked his dad to adopt him.  I think it was the happiest day in the world for both of them.  I can only imagine the pride from both of them.

Daddy joined the Navy in 1958 just after turning 18.  His favorite uncle had been in the Navy during WWII and Daddy had intended to follow in his footsteps and become a career Navy man.

He met my mother in 1959 and they were married in November of that year.  I was his first child born in 1961.  My brother followed in 1964 and my sister was born in 1975.

Daddy was a Navy man through and through.  He loved the Navy and wanted to make it a career.  However, my mother didn't want him to stay in the Navy.  So to keep her happy and thinking that a "good" father had to be around for his children, he retired from the Navy in 1967.  His last port-of-call was Honolulu.

After the Navy he never really found his nitch in life.  He tried different jobs but nothing seemed to catch.  In 1972 he hired on to a Chevrolet Dealership as a mechanic and semi-retired from that dealership in 2000.  He drove their wrecker afterhours and on weekends doing emergency calls until 2005.

My dad is not a drinker.  He could never hold his liquor not even a few beers.  He gave up all types of liquor in the 70s as he found no thrill in being drunk and didn't really care for the flavor of alcohol anyway.

February 13, 1978.  My grandfather died (happy) of heart failure while clearing the back roads of farm country of snow.  As my father was on the phone with one of his brothers, he had a heart attack.  He was in intensive care for three weeks.  He survived barely.  He had to have heart surgery in 1990.  He gave up smoking for a while then started again, but stopped again and has smoked in over 20 years.  Yay Daddy!!!

My parents were in the process of a divorce when he had his first heart attack.  Their divorced finalized in March and he remarried a couple of weeks later.  Bonnie, my step-mom, and I have had our ups and downs but she's always been good to and for my dad.

Daddy had a bi-polar condition.  He goes into the worst depressions ever.  Sometimes I have to go a long time without talking to him because he's such a downer.  But still I love him and sometimes he makes me laugh.

What I learned from my dad was an appreciation of the simple things in life.  I learned to love cars, especially the classic ones and roadsters.  Daddy was always dragging us to one car show or another.  Daddy taught me to appreciate history as he probably knows more about WWII than anyone I know.  Daddy taught me how to cook... he makes the best gravy in the world and even though most of our meals were simple meat, potatoes and vegetables nothing was ever burned or tasted bad.  Daddy taught me to love peanutbutter on my pancakes.  Most of all Daddy taught me that no matter what happens in life, no matter how much different we are to each other, no matter how far apart we are.... that he will always be there for me.

Happy Father's Day Daddy... I miss you and wish we lived closer to each other.

I love you.