I was never sure what my dad did for a living, because I never got to visit his workplace. He was in mechanical engineering jobs that were either highly technical or top secret.
Once he mentioned that he was in “high vacuum technology.” To my grade-school imagination, that meant he drove around in a giant Hoover vacuum cleaner.
He came home at 5:30 every day. I would wait for him on my red bicycle and ride alongside his car for the last block to our house.
My dad read widely, and he must have had a lot of deep thoughts. But he kept them mostly locked up inside his head. Maybe I didn’t have enough wit to ask him the right questions to unlock those thoughts.
But also, American dads were probably more remote to their kids in those days than they are now.
He’s been gone now for almost 25 years, and I still think fondly about him. When I clear my throat, I realize I sound exactly like him. I can’t help imagining him riding around on that giant vacuum cleaner.
I would love to hear your stories about your fathers, especially about the mysteries you never solved.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about your dad. My advice to people whose fathers are still alive is to draw them out about their early life and about their parents. I wish that I knew more about my parents and my grandparents. Family history is important. Write it down and pass it on to the younger people in your family or do oral histories. Make sure everyone gets a copy, they may want to add to the story.
My dad was a consummate storyteller...he could make a visit from an insurance salesman into a great funny story! He sometimes called himself "the human encyclopedia," because her read widely and REMEMBERED what he read. (He wasn't lacking in the self-confidence department, obviously, but never arrogant.) He encouraged me in a thousand ways, to explore, to become, to trust myself...and sometimes he drove me nuts. I miss him...