I don't remember alot about my dad before I was 4 yrs old, because he spent 2 years in Vietnam. Daddy was a picture on a table until he came home. He was hit with shrapnel, which almost killed him. He made headline news when he came home: "Cindy's Daddy Comes Home!" I still have that newspaper article, with him carrying me! I told the reporter that he wasn't my daddy; then pointed to the picture Mom kept on the living room table and said "That's my Daddy!"
Dad was an outdoorsy-type of guy, and I was his "little girl". Being a tom-boy, I hung out with Dad all the time. He loved to fish, and I loved to be with him. We owned some property where there was a fishing lake with swimming beaches, picnic tables, etc. We spent so much time there. I loved it! These were my "impressionable years", and boy did Daddy make an impression on me! Especially when he wore his dress uniform!
I planned to follow in his footsteps some day - only I wanted to attend West Point and become a criminal detective or lawyer. Things worked out quite a bit differently for me, however. This past year I'd begun to think about going back to school. I decided it was probably time to go after that law degree I've always wanted. I know Dad would have been thrilled if I'd ever told him. I never got the chance. I had only made the decision a few weeks before he died. I hadn't said anything to him the last time we spoke because so much else was going on with him and his health. I never dreamed it would be the last time we spoke. He died one week before he was to go on dialysis, but not as a result of his failing kidneys or heart condition - rather, as a result of two undetected, ruptured cerebral anuerysms.
We had him buried with full military honors. Taps was so hard to hear. I cry just thinking of it. They placed an empty bullet casing into the flag just prior to making the last fold. Such as touching tribute. I miss you Daddy.
Cindy
You can send email to Cindy at: [email protected]
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anniversary date 03-24-97
date of post 05-19-97
