My Father’s Day

Posted on June 18, 2017 by Stella

I haven’t written about my dad here before, I don’t think, although I have written about my mother on many occasions, so I’ll tell you a little bit about us.

My daddy, Carl, was born in 1907, and grew up in the Jazz age and the Depression. Dad attended the University of Illinois, studying Mechanical Engineering, but didn’t graduate due to family difficulties. He was married before he met my mom, and had two sons during the 1930’s. For reasons unknown to me (or indeed anyone who is still living) he was completely estranged from his own family – his mother, father, and three brothers. I didn’t know about his previous marriage or my two older half brothers until I was in my teens, and even then it was just the bare fact told to me by mother. It was never discussed, especially not by him, and I didn’t meet any of his family other than one of his brothers until about ten years ago.

Dad and my mom met in the late 1930’s when both were working for the Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit. Mom held various jobs in the factory (she was a widow with 2 children to support), and Dad worked in inspection. According to my mother:

Carl and I met at Hudson Motors, and we worked together for three years. We got acquainted and he asked around to see if I would go out with him. They said no, “She doesn’t go out with anyone.” But I lost a bet with some of the girls at work and I had to go out to lunch with him. After that we went out sometimes with a group and became friends.

In 1941 I was in the hospital after having my appendix out.  It CarlJessieZiegle1941ahad been a very serious condition.  Carl visited me in the hospital and asked me to marry him.  We were married on Christmas Eve that year.  Because of the war it was the only time we could get away from work.  I was 35 when I married Carl, and that is a good age.  He was a good husband, and we were very happy.

 

A few years later they were both surprised to learn that they were about to become parents, and a few months later yours truly was born into their world, a member of the post-war baby boom. Dad was 40 and mom was 41, and both had grown or nearly-grown children. I’m sure it was quite a shock. In a one-month period I was born, my sister graduated from high school, and my brother got married.

Daddy & his baby girl

I’m telling you all of this because it’s important to know that our dads – my dad for sure – are imperfect human beings who have made mistakes in their lives, who have lived as perfectly ordinary men, sometimes muddling through life, but doing their best, and learning from their mistakes.

My dad loved me, and I loved him. He taught me to be independent, to love math and reading and learning of every kind. He taught me to change a tire, took me to work with him, let me “help” when he fixed stuff around the house, let me tag along to the Army surplus store. I learned from him how to mow the lawn, weed the garden, feed the chickens, and paint a wall. Dad loved to take car trips, so I saw a lot of the United States and Canada while growing up; we took car trips to California, Florida and Washington DC, Niagara Falls and northern Michigan.

Dad taught me the importance of self reliance and working for a living. He taught me to save my money (I learned eventually) and how to establish credit. He even took me to restaurants as a young girl so that I would know which fork to use, and how to behave when I grew up and began my own social life.

My daddy showed me that a real man loves and cares for his wife and family, both materially and emotionally.  He was proud of me, and gave me self-confidence. Because of his belief in me, I knew that there was nothing that I couldn’t do if I put my mind to it. On the other hand, I also learned that no work was too menial or beneath me, especially if it was required in order to support myself.

I haven’t had my daddy for a long time. He died in October, 1976 after a long illness. I had made it to adulthood, and watched him love and teach my own daughter before he was gone. I’ll never forget him, and will always miss him and think of him on Father’s Day.

At the zoo, 1970

 

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16 Responses to My Father’s Day

  1. czarowniczy says:
    June 18, 2017 at 12:44 pm

    What’s to say, you were blessed indeed.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  2. sandandsea2015 says:
    June 18, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    Your father sounds like he was a wonderful man, Stella. Thank you for sharing more about your family with us. 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  3. joshua says:
    June 18, 2017 at 4:50 pm

    Stella, thanks for your sharing your special life.
    Hudson was a beautiful automobile.
    I remarried at age 43, after raising two kids and divorcing. My second wife was 36, never married before, good lady. We had kids after serious discussions of age, multiple family complication possibilities, and alcoholism. Eventually, we agreed to have kids together fully sober and committed to a lifetime of one day at a time…35 years ago, and we had a first born when she was 40. And it was a miracle for her, and amazing to me. And he was a wild full of energy independent kiddo who later we learned was ADHD, but very smart and fast to learn. Then, two years later, pregnant again…this time an at home birth, and an amazing event. Soon my son from my first marriage was married, and they had two kids, same age as my second wife’s and my two boys….so two kids and grandkids same age…complicated….and a half brother who was also my son who had to decide whether to be a brother or a parent to our new brood….complex, but eventually he too was divorced and mostly raised his two independently, despite an Air Force Officer career.

    I have learned that God is a Surprise, and not to plan ahead without expecting a lot of twists in the pathway forward. Today, I am a blessed man…sorta on the landing glide in rather than the takeoff pattern from life’s runway….and I just try to keep the fuel tanks full of enough for today’s flying at least….I love my family, my first wife and I are friends, my soul mate wife and I are happy together and planning our golden years, and I love the nation that I have always honored and pledged loyalty to.

    My hope is that God leads and protects Donald Trump to bring us back to sanity, that the angry people learn that their fear and blaming will never bring them happiness, and that my air conditioning makes it through the entire summer without crapping out in Texas heat.

    God bless treepers everywhere, and thank you SD for all you teach us and inform us about.

    Liked by 2 people

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  4. Menagerie says:
    June 18, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    I love this post Stella. Unfortunately, WordPress has decided not to let me like it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  5. valeriecurren says:
    July 10, 2017 at 11:16 pm

    “My daddy showed me that a real man loves and cares for his wife and family, both materially and emotionally. He was proud of me, and gave me self-confidence. Because of his belief in me, I knew that there was nothing that I couldn’t do if I put my mind to it. On the other hand, I also learned that no work was too menial or beneath me, especially if it was required in order to support myself.”

    I just read this snippet to my husband, it reminds me of how he has been in fatherhood to our children. These are the better bygone values of an elusive & admirable age. You were blessed to have such a father and to have him be an influence on your daughter. Thank you for sharing this!

    Liked by 1 person

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