re: Most impressive thing you watched your dad do

Was a heavy drinker at night but never managed to get mean, either was funny as hell or checked out listening to the radio. Hell of a mechanic, surprisingly a good dancer.

ETA: Damn, forgot somehow. He, mom, and one of my brothers and I were fishing. When we first got out there a copperhead came at him and somehow, he caught it with his hand and threw it against a tree. I don't think it died but he literally caught with his hand as it lunged. Dad was on a knee putting a cricket on or whatever bait when it lunged and he caught it with one hand.

My father was an attorney and an alcoholic. My mother separated from him when I was 10 and moved us to a rental home. There was 6 kids the two oldest were gone. I went to a summer camp without a dad at home, I think my mom knew I needed a distraction from home life with no dad. It helped get my mind off family matters, but I still cried for not knowing if my dad will be my dad. The last weekend of camp the parents were invited to see and meet the counselors the bunkhouse we lived and the horse show were we showed off our riding skills we learned there. Was waiting at the visitors center, and both of my parents showed up. One of the best days of my life. All is well, and I’m going back home. Fast forward 3 years and my father is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The Drs give him maybe 6 months to live. He lived for almost a year and died on his birthday. He had to live that long for his retirement to kick in. He suffered and the drugs he was taking didn’t help him relieve the pain. Wasn’t the pain from cancer, it was the pain of leaving his family of six and a wife that even though she left him, she deeply loved him. He suffered to help my mother take care of their kids. Love you dad and hope we meet again.

This event was totally out of character for my dad. He was always indecisive and my mom can't handle stress so even at a young age I often was effectively making some decisions in the house. I have some of that indecision in me but I channel it toward good things (like not jumping into a car purchase or other impulse buy, for example).

Anyway, we saw a car bust through a median from the other lane on the interstate and hit the ditch on our side of the rode. Dad slammed his brakes on, got us onto the shoulder, and he ran over there and pulled a guy out of his burning car. It was like action hero stuff. I had never seen him do anything like that. We didn't stick around. Stayed for a few and made sure everyone was ok and we just left.

Apparently the guy who wrecked dropped a cig in the floor and tried to get it and swerved into oncoming traffic. Luck as hell he didn't hit someone head on.

Endured terminal cancer that ate half his body over 6 months without shedding a tear.

I watched my dad help put men on the moon, me.

My Dad had a job he enjoyed and lived in an Ark near the Buffalo River that he loved. My uncle had a small country store that was heavily in debt that my grandfather co-signed for. The bank was going to take the farm, and my dad worked with the creditors for him to move back home and to take over the store. He worked 7 days a week opening at 6am and closing at 7-8 while having a meat department and a produce department (meaning he would have to work after he closed to butcher the meat to sell the next day). He would only hire one part time employee because he knew he could save money to help pay off the debt faster.

This uncle was one of my favorite uncles, and I was never told this till I was well out of college. I have no idea why my family would have kept this from me. I can count the times me and my father threw a ball on one hand. He never went to my games, but he always made sure I had a way to practice, etc. I worked at the store from when I was probably 5 (our house was built onto the back of the store). I have always credited my math skills to working in the store, because I would add the price of groceries in my head while ringing it up and then figure out the tax and use the cash register to check my math.

The only regret I have is that my family waited so long to tell me. It would have explained alot of his actions over the years, but they didn't want me to have any ill will towards my uncle.

Gumbo mud. 5-6 feet. Louisiana summer. By hand. Your dad was built different. That's old school grit. And the name in the wet concrete? Perfect.

My old man survived a head-on collision on I10 heading to work. The other guy crossed the median and he was running at least 80mph when he crashed. He was put into a medically-induced coma for at least a week with broken bones, had a colostomy bag, and was in a wheelchair for almost a year. For about a week we weren’t sure if he was going to make it. The guy went from independent to dependent in half a second and it took a toll on him mentally. Funny enough, I think that wreck was the best thing for our family as it brought us closer than ever. Fast forward 10+ years, he still gets around with a limp but he feeds his cows everyday and manages to do most everything by himself. Tough sumbitch and I’m proud to call him my dad.

Dad landed a plane with minimal power and no landing gear with me, my brother and my mom onboard....

Watched my dad start his own business and thrive. No, I’m not talking about Amway. He did that too and fortunately broke even and got out.

It’s one of the things I admire about him the most. He made a big name for himself and I only wish I had the kind of drive and work ethic that he did.