I'd give up everything I have for my father to show up to the track one night and watch me beat the shit out of my car. The main reason I'm even into cars is cause of his 69 GTO. I'll cross my fingers.

And Tony I wish your Dad the best!! Hope all is well soon!

 

I attempted this last year... My biological father's birthday was upon us and I sent him a card w/a letter and a picture of my (now) fiance and I. I told him that she was the woman I planned to marry and start a family with, and that this was his opportunity to become a part of that 'family' even though he missed out on being a part of my family for the past 25 years.

My half sister found me on AOL w/the info I provided them to get in touch w/me. She said the card is in his office, the picture on their fridge.

Still no call, email, or attempt at reconciliation on his behalf.

 

MiDiablo,
It looks as though he misses you, but is (as DRDIRT mentioned above) afraid of the actual call or meeting. Good luck. He'll come around...Just be careful.

DrDirt,
I hope your dad does get better. It sounds like he's got a lot of fight.

I did reconcile with my adoptive dad once....He said "I made a lot of mistakes with you. I'm sorry". That was it. The appology. Then things were good for about 6 months, then bam....Right back in the crapper again. He accused me of doing something as a kid that I didn't do, and I told him that was why I discontinued contact before. He said, well, you did it, not me. I hung up and said good riddance. That was 3 years ago now. Before that, it was 15 years of not talking to him at all and not seeing him. He can rot.

For those of you with a good relationship with your father, good. I'm honestly happy for you. You have something not everyone has. Enjoy it while it lasts and make the most of it. For those of us who have crappy relationships with their fathers, come on over...We'll have a beer together. LOL

 

First off,hope your fathers ok Tony,but if he does pass just remember he had a long wonderful life and he seems like he was a great father.

hhhmmmm,my dad,he was one of those fathers that were always there,he was a mechanic all his life and worked very hard to give us a decent life.Had a mother that was in and out of our lives,so my father was the one person that never let me down,no matter what stupid shit I pulled(there was alot)he would never turn his back.It hit me really hard when my father was killed a couple years ago,and it's hard for me to talk about it today,but you guys that have fathers that you love,you guys need to make up or you will regret it later.I've kinda made fathers day a day for my kids now,take them out somewhere and let them have a fun day,it's not about me anymore.

 

Tony --- best to you, and for your dad.

What a cool thread. You see guys and gals, regardless of our past experiences, we that care for others in our mini-circles should care for all directly connected to us. The time will come for each of us to be a photo on a mantle with onlookers saying ... " yes, a man of character" or "hah, that man was a character!" Which will you be? We each can seek the best of others and push them up, or ... simply dwell on their vices and, well you know.

For me --- my pop is a PhD-er in Mathematics, a professor, former Dept. Head for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association), kind loving person and was a great provider to six children raised in private schools in a Country Club community of Miami Lakes. Today he is retired and after 6 by-passes has now been hit with a rare disease called Myelofibrosis ... his life has been shortened without warning.

He was always too busy for dad stuff, it seemed. When he divorced my mom all hell broke out, I was given man-of-the-house duties and hated his guts for years! Yet, he was always there when needed by his kids during that time even till today. I love him alot today as if none of that crap ever happened.

I wish for each of you as I have experienced, life will go full circle and help you show those closest to you what really matters --- yep, from what bothers you the most. People say, "Life is short ...", bull it's the longest thing we know --- make it count. No one is a great dad all the time ... especially me.

If you are a dad, well ... you know what to do, now don't you?!

 

First off, again, thanks for the good wishes and the prayers. The Dr. at the podunk hospital told me that it might be nothing more than indigestion. He was transfered upt to the "Big City" yesterday and they found that he had a big blockage in a major artery as well as another small one. They immediately put a stint in the big one and did the balloon trick with the smaller on. So, it's a wait and see game now. Hopefully that is going to do him for now but in my heart, I know it is the first step in a downward spiral when you're 82. I'll just have to step up the pace with our relationship for the remainder of his life whether it be 6 months or another 20 years.

For you that have taken steps to reestablish communications with your fathers or mothers...even siblings, good for you. It's not easy and in most instances, things won't improve much overnight. But don't give up. Keep trying. After all, if things have been stale for most of your life, it will take a little time. There's going to be a lot of hurt and suspicion to overcome. It might be hard but you really need to try. When it is too late to try to do anything, believe me, your sense of loss will be even worse for not having tried and tried and tried again. You've all been forced to watch the stupid chick flicks where the couple are madly in love with each other but neither knows how the other one feels and are convinced that it could never be. Meanwhile you're sitting ther on the couch bored to death and thinking, "JEEZ! Somebody just say something and break the stalemate already. I wanna switch the channel to WFC." Same thing. Say something and say it over and over again.