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A Tribute to Dad

I loved both my parents.  And they both loved me.  But on this Father's Day, I would like to focus on Dad.  My Dad.  In particular, I want to share with you three gifts he gave to me which have helped to mold me into the man I am today.

One evening during my college years, Dad found me struggling with a difficult calculus problem.  Now, Dad never attended college, although he did earn two high school degrees before he reached working age.  He noticed my dismay and asked if he could help.  I thought “This math is way over his head”.  But he offered, so I set out to try to explain my dilemma.  He listened carefully, then asked an insightful question.  Immediately a light bulb went off in my head and I was able to solve my problem.  Thanks to a man who barely knew what calculus is.  So whenever my brain seems to click, I credit it, at least in part, to my Dad.

Dad also had a active sense of humor.  He particularly loved puns.  (For example, a favorite of mine:  “A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.”)  His humor quickly spread to my sister and me.  My Mom was sometimes annoyed by our shenanigans, but even she would often join in the laughter.  I have found that laughing, or at least smiling, at the craziness of life has helped me through my darkest times.

Dad was a sports fan.  That rubbed off on me rather quickly.  We enjoyed watching games on TV or just tossing a football around at the local park.  These early sessions with Dad launched me into a wonderful world, which included my participation in softball in elementary school and later at JPL, basketball and track in high school, and touch football at Caltech.  

Dad died on November 3, 1997, at the age of 78.  But when I figure out some difficult problem, when I recall some of his word play, when I enjoy fantasy baseball with my son, I think of my Dad.  

Thank you, Dad, for everything.