Happy Father's Day

Although my father isn't around to enjoy these photos (and enjoy them he would), I thought it fitting to post them today.

My father loved to take pictures. He carried a camera around everywhere, and if he didn't have his camera when he saw a photo opportunity we had to stay posed until he got it. We made a lot of fun of his picture taking, but looking back through my photos I'm thrilled that he took so many. Photos tell the story and bring back great memories.

This picture was taken on my birthday when I got my typewriter. He set this photo up, I'm sure, wanting to dispense fatherly advice on typing.


The one thing about my father was how funny he really was, whether intentional or not. This is a picture of him hosing the yard while it was raining. This was the kind of stuff he did that drove my mother crazy, but to us kids we thought it hysterical.

I opened the door and took this picture, surprising him. Even taken unaware the man was smiling. When he saw a camera he would just pose. Here he just pretended he was hosing down the porch because "the rain couldn't reach here".


I am very thankful that my Dad wrote on almost every photograph he took. He wrote the date, the occasion, and the names of the people in the picture. This was another thing we made fun of, but now that my memory is going as I age I'm so grateful to have that information. Now I know how old I was and can recount things from the past through a picture. He would have embraced the digital age, but he wouldn't have liked not having a picture in his hands to write on. Although, he would have loved messing with digital photos on his computer. Heck, he would have made videos of them!

This is a great picture, but I haven't a clue who took it. This is the Indiana farm that he grew up on (and died on). These are the fish he caught and documented on the photo.

I have a few memories of fishing with my Dad. I didn't much enjoy it, but I'm glad I did it. Another lesson is life that I'm glad I experienced. He made us bait our own hooks and take our fish off when we caught them, which is the part I hated. But he was also a softie and I could get him to help me out on both of those most of the time.

I think the man photographed every major day of our lives. This picture is the day I graduated from college. We are standing outside our front yard in Indiana right before leaving for the ceremony.


My father was born on the 4th of July and so it was a big day in our house. We liked to put sparklers on his cake instead of candles. He enjoyed gifts and the sillier the better. He was definitely a kids' dream because if we saw it on a television commercial during Saturday cartoons we knew he had to have it. And he loved it.

He also insisted in his photographing that we take pictures with our gifts. Every Christmas he set up all the presents we received and took our pictures next to it. I love it now looking back at the gifts and knowing when I got them. I try to do this with my own kids, but I'm not as successful as he was. This pictures is his 66th birthday. I got him the Red Cross First Aid Kit. I got on for myself too. I still have it to this day in my van.

My father was a good man. I miss him a lot. More so on this day. I miss his "Russ-isms". I miss his humor. I miss his big bear hugs and his big gnarled hands. I miss the smell of his cigar smoke. I miss his lectures.

I'm glad I have his photos.