Good bye Dad

Jack Osborne

April 19, 2001

My Dad showed me how to build a house.

After work the Summer of 1961 he taught me to drive and parallel park the blue '59 Ford pickup. He slept while I crashed through the gears. He showed me you could trust somebody else, although I still don't do that very well.

He showed me where the big fish are and let me catch some of them. One time I drove the boat when Dad got a big fish hook caught in his hand and he had to go to the hospital. I was 14 and it was in the cold pre-dawn at Lake Santa Margarita. I got him back to the dock and to somebody who could help him.

Our family loved to go camping. We were the first family to have campers on both of their pickup trucks. The Kern River was our favorite family camp.

Dad respected his parents and believed in family. He made sure that I respected my two parents.

Both Mom and Dad encouraged me to be active in Scouting; Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Explorer Scouts. I discovered hiking in the Sierra's and I still love that.

During the Vietnam war, I went away to join the Army. Dad told me it would be all right. It turned out I found a way to get stationed in Germany instead of Southeast Asia. While I was away my Dad and I exchanged long letters. His were passionate and very serious about the condition of the World and the dangers of the Soviet Union and China. I know he shared his views with other people and he was careful to write them all down.

I was pretty much on my own after the Military and I lived a long way from home after that. My Little League experience and growing up listening to the Los Angeles Dodgers turned into a love of the San Francisco Giants and I still enjoy going to whatever games I can. Luckily Carol is a big fan too.

Whenever any of us misses Dad we need only to look around. He's in each and every one of us kids and our kids and our grandkids. Mom said it best when she said "You're just like your Father," and it makes me think: "Now, that's not so bad."

Good bye Dad. I love you.

Jack