I can’t remember when this happened but it was when Grandpa was in his early 90’s. My dadand I had gone over to his house to help him with a fan in his attic because my dad didn’t want grandpa going up the ladder to get in the attic. When we arrived the ladder was already set up and my dad went up to check out the issue. While he was up there I started talking with grandpa and he began to tell me about what had just happened right before we got there. Grandpa told me he had just been in the attic working on the issue with the fan and needed to come back down into the garage to grab a tool. On his was out of the ceiling he stretched his foot out of the hole to aim for the A frame ladder a few feet below the hole. His foot proceeded to touch the ladder and then knock it right over. At that point he had already committed his 90+ year old body out of the whole so his weight dropped him out of the ceiling and he was only able to slow him self down by hanging from the joist by his hands just for a brief moment then dropped to his feet, collapse into a tuck and roll and jump back to his feet unscathed!  I was in complete shock as his told me this story with my dad was still in the attic working on the fan.  Grandpa then turns to me and says, “don’t tell your dad.”  Grandpa always impressed me with his mobility but this was another level!  Well now you know what happened that day dad.  Hope you’ll forgive him.

I would like to relate an experience I had with my Dad when I was about five years old. This would have been about 1954. Dad loved tools, but his tool budget was very limited. When he bought a new one, it was kind of a big deal, and we four boys were always excited when a new tool came home. On this particular occasion, he brought a new tape measure home from Citizens’ Lumber in Kingsburg, CA. Dad was pretty proud of it. Gary was the oldest boy so he had the first kid's right to play with it. I didn’t really see much of it the rest of the day but I filed in my mind that in the morning I would play with it. The next morning, I found the tape in Dad’s tool bench and began pulling the tape in and out. I pulled the tape out a foot or so. I thought it was so cool. Then, for whatever reason, I folded the metal tape in half and creased it. Then I folded it back the other way and creased it again. Then I did it again, and to my horror, the tape broke completely in half and zipped inside the housing leaving me holding a one-foot piece of tape in one hand and the housing in the other hand. I was devastated and knew right away I had done something terrible. I sadly walked into the house and showed mom what I had done and made up some lame story about how it happened. She responded, “When your Dad gets home, tell him the truth and show him the tape.” That was a scary thought.“Will he spank me?” I asked.“I don’t know,” she replied, “But it will be best if you tell him the truth.”
Oh wow, I was really caught. There was no way out of this. I really had to face it. My mom knew the basic facts and now there was no hiding it. I waited impatiently all day. The minutes dragged by. Facing Dad with the story was the only thing on my mind the entire day. The minutes kept dragging on and on. The last hour or so I sat by the window watching for his car to pull into the driveway. At long last, the car showed up and pulled into the driveway. I went outside with the tape. He got out of the car and I meekly showed him the tape and explained exactly what I did. His expression never changed to any kind of anger or show of being upset. I get a little misty-eyed when I think about this part, and I’ve thought about it more than a few times. He squatted down to get face to face with me, put his arm around me, and said, “You told the truth, and that is really important. It’s more important than what happened to the tape measure. Don’t worry about the tape, I’m just proud of you for telling the truth.” And that was it. I was overwhelmed.It wasn’t the reaction I expected at all. Something happened with my relationship to my Dad that day that I can’t fully explain.Perhaps it was something about deeper loyalty. He gave up his cherished tape measure to teach his son the importance of telling the truth and he did so in a very caring way. My loyalty to him was never in question after that incident. Furthermore, I don’t remember ever again questioning my Dad’s love for me.I knew I was secure in it.When my junior high years came along, my friends complained frequently about their dads.I never told anyone the story of the tape measure, but secretly I had no reason to complain about my Dad. He was very special to me because I knew I was much more important to him than a shiny new tape measure.

John was such a delight to know. My late husband, Ted, and I met John in the early 1990's when we were working on a product. John offered much needed information on how to accomplish our goal. He and Ted, being the inventors they were, enjoyed exchanging ideas. We enjoyed many meals together over the years. My prayer for the family that you have peace knowing you dad is now in heaven enjoying all those who went before him.

Peace to each of you.