Jun 18, 2006

Father's Day

Grandpa Sneed - 2005 Petty Officer Second Class Sneed, circa. 1943 Somedays it seems to me that I have a tad more than the standard-issue amount of turmoil in my life. Father's Day marks the anniversay of the greatest tragedy of my life, the day our grandson died. It was 4 years ago. I once read a quote that said that having a family is offering hostages to fate. Sounds about right to me. This is also the first Father's Day in my kid's lives that their grandfather will not be here. Grandpa Sneed, my dad, died last August. He was 81 year old. I'm sitting here thinking about being a father. The lovely Mrs. Sneed and I have four children, three biological and one adopted. Later this morning we will have breakfast with three of them and their families, family tradition. One, the adopted son, is somewhere doing whatever he does. His loss. After we eat I will take my grandsons on a walk around the plaza area of the restaurant so that they can climb the steps and jump off various stuff. They are both nearly three, so they like to climb and jump. Eventually, someone will call on my cell phone to say we are taking too long and I will be the bad guy for making them return to their mothers. Later I plan on watching the final round of the US Open golf on TV, hoping to see Phil Mickelson win another major. The Sneeds have had more than our share of ups and downs over these many years. I have been responsible for my share of both. I've tried to do my best as a dad. Sometimes I gave the kids too much, sometimes I thought of them too little. At the end of the day, the best thing I have to pass on to my kids is the life lessons I've learned. I hope they remember the good ones and disregard the bad. Tag:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Sneed, you are the best father that ever was...hands down. Love, Daughter Sneed