A beloved father, teacher, friend, patriot and my hero | Ray Glenn
I’m glad our nation celebrates our dads and moms. They gave us life and shaped our lives. Mine, most assuredly, were pillars in my life.
As we honor our fathers today, I hope we recognize their importance more frequently. We should honor them every day.
I look up from my home office desk every workday to the frame holding my father’s Air Force photo when he was in his late 20s, along with the railroad engineer’s hat he wore at age 3 in a treasured family photo. There also are family photos of the two of us at Florida State games and our storied tailgate parties where three generations would descend on Tallahassee’s “The Hill” to prepare for battle. I always smile.
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It never mattered where the game was being played — Tallahassee, Atlanta, Dallas, Clemson — or how old and frail he got, Dad always was ready to join us for a road trip. Load up the SUV, toss in some snacks, a cooler of adult beverages and his trusty blender, and off we’d go. He looked forward to spending time with me, my children and our friends … and nothing was more enjoyable for me.
Those are some of my best times ever. They will never fade from my memory.
Little did Dad know as a young boy growing up in a small town in the mountains of West Virginia, which he left at age 17 to join the military, that he would serve his country in the steamy jungles of Vietnam and Thailand, often covered in what he later learned was Agent Orange. I have tried many times to imagine what fears must have crossed his mind as bullets, land mines and such took lives all around him or he bedded down with deadly cobras. I have tried to imagine because Dad would never talk about it. Just doing his duty as a proud American …
Little did Dad know he also would serve in whiteout conditions of 50 degrees below zero in Greenland, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or, most importantly in my family’s lives, in Liverpool, England. It was in Liverpool that Dad met Mom at an Air Force dance on base at RAF Burtonwood. He was smitten from the first glance, immediately telling his buddies “I’m going to marry her.”
Fortunately, he was right.
Dad was a common man from Appalachia. Meeting a big-city girl from England — the first cousin of the Beatles’ original drummer Pete Best, no less — changed his life forever.
He preferred beer over fine wines, pizza over filet mignon and a day with family over anything else. He cared deeply for Mom, my siblings and me. Later in his life, he found new joy in his three grandchildren. Mom too. They did everything for their grandsons and granddaughter and loved every minute.
Dad taught all his children the value of hard work. Following his retirement from the military after more than 20 years, he immediately went to work for the U.S. Postal Service and spent the rest of his working career there. As far back as I can remember, he also took second jobs to put food on the table.
He also taught us that success is measured in the moments shared with family and friends, not the amount of money in your bank account. Despite his busy schedule, he always found time to play ball with us and stay involved in all aspects of our lives. Nothing is more precious, more valuable than that. We were very rich indeed!
In 2019, as a disabled veteran racked with cancer brought on from his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Dad passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. Appropriately, it was July 4.
I miss you, Dad, but you never will be forgotten!
Ray Glenn is the content coach and engagement editor at the Panama City News Herald. You can reach him at RGlenn@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on The News Herald: I celebrate my hero this Father's Day and hope you do, too | Ray Glenn
