to my loving father...

this is very difficult to talk about,because how do i explain my father to you,folks... he is turning eighty this July... i have a very funny picture of him blowing out 79 separate candles on his cake... it honestly looked like a forest fire on his cake,with his chin over the cake... have to see it to believe it... people think he is a nice guy,but,honestly,i know the truth(laughing)... question:why was i not invited to the party??? seems that i miss all the fun??? enough of the laughs,more later(maybe)... let me take you back to the late 50's:he married my mother,in January,1957;had my older sister in September,1957... i was born in August,1959;was in serious auto accident,in September,1959(cerebral palsy),and my younger brother was born in August,1960(our birthdays are two days apart)... to be 26 years of age,and have a wife and three children(one handicapped-me) may not have been that unusual at that time,but it was very tough on him... must have been tough;that is for sure,but he treated every one of us kids the same,including me... i was brought up to be independent,and to honestly think for myself... he punished us the same,and taught me that there was absolutely no difference between any of us kids... i never knew how tough it was on him growing up... i remember the morning paper route,in Bakersfield;he would take one of us on a route one at a time,we would go to Winchell's after the route,and honestly,i really looked forward to my turn doing it... we moved to Sacramento in March,1969,and shortly after that,my mother moved to Denver,but i still remember the football games,between me and my dad,in the backyard,shortly after moving to Sacramento... my parents went through a tough time,and i remember that time as a very tough time for me,because we moved often,and i was confused about it... my father tried to be a real father,and he was,no doubt,but i feel even now,that he was distracted(missing my mother and sister),and dealing with two sons who honestly were growing up... i remember one thing from that time:we had a puppy,and hamster-my dad asked me what to keep-puppy or hamster... i picked the hamster,and it died two day later... that sucked... should have kept the puppy... we moved to Orangevale,and my parents tried to make it work,but after many other moves,it went south,in a big way... until the day that my mother died,in 2008,my dad cared for my mother very much,but at that time,the passion that they had,in my own opinion,turned into mass frustration,and anger... that is the best way that i can put it... he married Patti,in February,1975... which,at that time,i thought it was going to be tough,and for a time,it was... over the years,i have honestly have come to really love,and respect her,period... my father showed a side of himself that i rarely ever see;a very caring,loving,and patient person,who would give you the shirt off his back,but he could be tough as nails through the tough times... we honestly have not seen eye to eye over the years,and have had our tough times,but the tough times had to happen,because i had to grow up,and to tell you the truth,most of those times were my fault... however,there is no one whom i respect and love,more than my father,period... i hate to say this,but i am more like my father than i really want to admit... i joke around with him all the time,because,one time,i told my dear departed mother that i felt like he needed to laugh,and i guess that is still true... through the years,i have grown up to be my father's son... i am a Shaw,no doubt... now back to bed...