My Dad’s Dreams Come True

My mom passed away a couple of years ago when she was almost 82.  Understandably this event seems to have released a ton of memories and feelings in my surviving dad.  I want to mention here something he shared with me which kind of rocked my perspective on his life.

I entered the world as the first born of my Methodist lower middle class parents living near a small town in Indiana.  I grew up feeling that my parents were average people with few dreams who just kind of fell together during their teenage years  and jumped on the 1950’s style baby boom treadmill.  I found out that was not my dad’s perspective at all.

A year of so after mom’s death I was visiting with dad.  We were in his kitchen and he looked around the room and said “this was all for her” hanging his head and with a tear in his eye.  He went on to share what a great dream come true his life has been.

I always knew he adored my mom but I didn’t realize that to him she was like winning the lottery.  He changed his religion from non-practicing Catholic to Methodist.  He joined my mom’s church where more than one generation of her family had attended.  They moved to the country on a 2 acre plot of land my mom’s father practically gave to them.  Dad grew up in the city and this was a big move for him.  He joined the Masonic lodge, another dream of his, in his early 30’s and is still involved having held pretty much all the offices they offer, sometimes many times.  He also served 2 years in the military including a tour in Korea during that war.  Something his dad didn’t do but my mom’s dad did (WW1)

None of those things are very exciting to me except maybe that I wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t met.  But it was a revelation to me that he had followed his dreams.  He took what he saw as big risks and obtained the life he wanted.

It made me feel good to know that he didn’t just fall into his life.  That he went after it and made it work.  I have done the same in my life and I really respect that.  Way to go dad!