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Watch the ships pass through New Orleans. A few times, we got invited aboard a docked ship to have breakfast or something. Watching ships go in and out of a harbor fascinates me to this day.

My dad would also take me to the Naval Air Station, where they let old planes rot. My dad flew in a PBY Catalina, training as a radio man during WW II. Fun times for a five- or six-year-old kid.

going fishing where his dad took him fishing every summer. playing hockey on a frozen pond together when we lived in WI.

I grew up on a cattle ranch and most of the memories are of hard work and tough lessons learned. When I was little, about 6, my dad would take my sisters and I to check heifers. We'd load into a single cab pickup and head out with a thermos of "cowboy coffee" straight black, and thick enough to stand a spoon in. We'd ride thru pastures, my dad and three daughters ages 6-9, and drink bitter coffee and talk about life and cows. If it was the weekend, and past noon, he'd open a beer and let us all have a sip. When we got home and my mom asked us what we'd been up to we would all say "drinking cold beer and lookin at hot mamas". Good memories.

Go fishing on Toledo Bend the first three to four years of its flooding.

Definitely fishing and hunting. I still try to go out to the camp with my dad as much as I can.

Easily hunting and fishing. He wrapped me in an army blanket and took me for the first time at 18 months old. We went every season after. Those are without a doubt the best memories I made with Dad as a child. As I got older there were plenty of other things we enjoyed doing together but hunting still topped the list.

In the early 2000's we started going to his hunting club after lunch on Thanksgiving and staying the weekend. Some days we never left camp and just sat around talking. This was prime, trophy managed land that I could only go to on that weekend but I never felt like I wasted an opportunity by sitting in camp with him instead of hunting. I lost him 3 years ago a and 34 seasons was nowhere near as many as I wanted but am glad to have the time we had.

The first opening day without him was rough. I remember looking over at my own son and the tears running down my cheek as all of those memories came flooding back. Hopefully one day when I'm gone he will remember those times with me as fondly as I do with Daddy.