...all the affections...all the stars...

Welcome to Day Three of the Window's Father's Day celebration. What an inspiring week it has been so far, with today's offerings being no exception. - Liz

"Son, brother, father, lover, friend. There is room in the heart for all the affections, as there is room in heaven for all the stars." - Victor Hugo

William Conway Kelly

My memories of my father were pretty ordinary. He wasn't a demonstrative man, although his love for his family (especially his grandsons) was a given. He passed away back in 1988. After my mother died, I came across a shoe box filled with memories. In it were love letters from my father, written while she was recovering from a miscarriage at her mother's home in TN. He hadn't yet been discharged from the military so he couldn't leave MI.

The letters showed me a side of my father I'd never known. Not only were they beautifully written but he'd hand-drawn beautiful scenes at the top of each letter. I'd had no idea he had such artistic talent. - Nancy Fraser

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“Hold your mitt in front of your body.”

Dean Spillers

“Keep your eye on the ball.”

“Let’s try that song one more time.”

My dad’s influence on my life was wide and has endured past his death. He passed on to me an appreciation for vegetable gardening. He taught me how to catch and throw and hit a baseball when I was in elementary school. And most of all, he filled my life with music. He was a bugler in the Army. He played the trumpet from age fourteen and never quit until he had struggles with getting breath to play in old age. He sang tenor in a quartet. In my family, the question was not do you want to play an instrument; it was what instrument do you want to play?

Today, the music bug he gave me still enriches my experiences in many ways. Watching a movie, I hear the score by individual instruments. I know that when a trumpet player hits a very high note, that player is extremely skilled. Music remains a part of my daily life. I write to music.

It wasn’t always fun to be my father’s daughter when it came to music. I played my first solo in front of my second grade class, his doing. He demanded regular practice. He would sit me down beside him to practice my saxophone. His reputation was “let’s try that one more time,” and the one more time always meant numerous times.

I learned the hard way to always keep my eye on the ball and hold my mitt correctly. One time when I was about eight, a ball came my way and hit me in the head. I didn’t get injured but it did hurt. “Keep your eye on the ball, Lynn,” my dad said. I think that advice has help me focus on getting what I want in my writing career.

He was a quiet person, generally. He tended our family ½ acre garden for hours on end, content standing alone among the tomato plants and rows of sweet corn. When I became a writer, he didn’t say much about my essays, articles, or stories. But one sentence he said I’ll never forget. It meant so much to me, coming from my dad. He had read something I’d written and commented to my mom, “She sure can write.”

When I hear a famous tenor sing, or hear a trumpeter play, I think of my dad’s beautiful music and his love for it. And sometimes I think of those words from him about my writing, and my heart expands and I say, Thanks Dad. - Lynn Crandall

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My dad would take us along when did his fuel

Dillman Family

deliveries. I went with him to the base once. I fell off the seat while watching a plane take off. He would always wait until all seven of us were in the car, then decide to check the oil. Verl Dillman was his name. The first letter in Dad's name and my brothers spelled his. Edward, Robert, and Larry. - Kay Riggs

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Ziggy

This is my dad. He gave me two very good lessons. He taught me to never make a bet with money I didn’t have after I made a bet with my cousins and lost and had to get the five cents from my dad. I also had to work that five cents off to repay it...and he told me he didn’t care where I went to church. Just that he wanted me to go. His telling me that gave me the freedom to try out several different religions and I chose what worked best for me, even though it wasn’t my original religion. 🙂 - Cathie Kahle

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Paul Kingery

In memory of my Father in law Paul F. Kingery Sr. I was so blessed to have such a wonderful father in my life I lost my Dad at young age. I remember the times he would come and visit. I'll always treasure. - Deloris DeWald Kingery

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Mike Farnham

I would like to do a son-in-law tribute for Father’s Day if I could. My son-in-law is such an inspirational man to my family. He fell in love with my daughter when they were around 14. Although she liked him as a friend she fell in love with him years later. He’s such an important part of our family. His personality is that he never met a stranger. I have never met anyone who didn’t like him. 

He treats his wife wonderfully. He loves his children. He takes them fishing, shopping, picks them up after their activities. Very rarely complaining. He lets them paint his toe nails, wears a crown if the occasion calls for it, but most of all had been great to my other daughter’s family and me. 

He has taken me to chemo, had to almost carry me when I couldn’t walk, has worked on my car when I need it, and helped me through tough times. Not all sons-in-law help their moms-in-law so willingly. He is my hero this Father’s Day for being such a great Father throughout all year. - Paula McKinney