Daddy. The ones we lost. Please share yours.

[Glorfindel]

41. My father was very affectionate and loving

He loved to sing and play the harmonica, he loved to fish, and to drink beer and hang out with his friends. I was an "accident," born when my siblings were 14, 12, and 10. I used to tease my parents that I was the result of their celebrating the American victory in the Battle of the Bulge. My father read to me, bought me books and clothes that I considered gaudy (the clothes, not the books), and made sure that I never lacked for anything. He died much too young, at age 57, from a lifetime of smoking unfiltered Camel cigarettes, and I miss him every day of my life. Thank you for asking, and thanks to everyone else for sharing their memories, especially the bad ones. I greatly admire your courage. I can't begin to imagine how awful it would be to have an abusive father.