When Dad arrived into the world, he arrived into imperfect circumstances, as we all do. 

Dad certainly had his faults, but I know he loved Mom, his wife of 65 years, and he loved his family. 

In some families, the children stand on the shoulders of their parents, on
what their parents teach them, and the environment they raise them in.
Dad did not have that advantage growing up.  Metaphorically speaking,
Dad had to climb out of a hole growing up, and then fill it in so he had
something to stand on so he could raise his family. Dad certainly did
his best for us.  

Did he have a temper? Yes. 

Was he controlling? Yes. 

Did he feel like he always had to prove himself? Yes. 

But he also gave us the best of what he had— and I am not speaking of material things.  

He
gave us the great gift of being curious about the world, especially
science and the natural world, the love of reading. He gave us the gift
of reasoning things out. 

We
camped and hiked. He taught me photography. He showed me how to develop
photographs in our home darkroom.  He encouraged my interest in
science. 

And importantly, he did not set limits on his children because he had daughters. He    never said
“You can’t do that..” because we were girls. His expectations of us
were not limited by gender.He expected us to support ourselves.  I took
upper level science and math classes, Kelley took Karate classes. This
was unusual during the seventies. 

He expected us to reason things out. Dad was never patronizing in his conversations with us when we were kids.  

Dad, along with Mom, gave us a deep appreciation for nature and beauty. A
member of the Audubon Society, we were always going camping and hiking
through Ohio’s state parks.  He took the time to show us how to identify
the various trees, birds and flowers we encountered. I never truly
appreciated this gift until much later in my life, and I am often struck
how many people just seem to wander through life blind to all the
beauty around them.  

So, Dad’s legacy for me was this deep appreciation for the order and beauty

of the world around me, and he took the time to make sure that we had
those experiences. And those experiences are so much a part of my
make-up. I would not change any of them. I wish I appreciated them more
when I was younger. Thanks Dad.