What time is it? Time for a Father's Day PIF

Thanks to fellow steward WarrenB, we have a beautiful Sekonda Sports Chronograph 3039 to give away. So, how do you get a chance to win? To enter you must submit a true story about fatherhood -- fond remembrances of your father (or a father/mother figure in your life), and/or what being a parent means to you. If you don't have a story like this to share, then it can be a story of how you have done the same for your children.

To enter, you must have a minimum of 200 posts (one exception- people who have contributed prior to this post being made). The winner will be selected by random generator. Members with veteran, active duty, or contributor badges will receive extra chances to win. If you wish to submit a story, but don't want to be considered "In", feel free to do so and just note that you are not "In". This will end at 1800 central US time on the 3rd of June.

This is open to anyone with a mailing address, and once the winner is selected, the package will be coming from England. Good luck.

I will not be in, but I will be submitting a story after I get home from work.

I'm in!!
Growing up, my father would take my brother and I fishing and hunting but he never took a rifle, shotgun, or fishing pole for himself. He was there with us all the time explaining fishing, hunting, and safety. He helped us how to bait our hooks, taught us how to tell if our lines were tight and tell if we had bites and how to set our books. Basically, dad taught us everything we know about hunting and fishing but more importantly somewhere in all this fun we learned how to be men and fathers and husbands.
Fast forward to when I was a young adult just beginning my career. I took a co-worker and his oldest son fishing. He and his son both fished and soon my friend was upset with his son for reeling in his line, not setting the hook, and a mess of other things. After a bit I grabbed my co-worker's pole, reeled in the line, and put it away. He looked at me and I told him to go have fun with his son and teach him how to fish and share and treasure your time together. I sat there the entire night watching them enjoying themselves. During that time I silently thanked my father for all he did for me. It all clicked that night!!
Fast forward to just a couple years ago. Dad and I went hunting. I took 1 rifle, 1 pair of binos, and his favorite snacks. I helped him climb into the blind and he got his "macho grande" Texas Whitetail.
It all came full circle that day!

No amount of success in your professional life will ever make up for failure in the home!

My father is what it means to be a father and I hope that I am the father, man, husband he taught me to be!!

marty

Great way to kick it off, Marty.

Man I love this place!!! Great topic and PIF!!!

I'm in....

I lost my father just over two years ago. He taught me everything I know from Woodworking, Cooking, Electrical (which I am awful at!!), Plumbing, Respect and all the important things in life but the best thing he offered me was the love of the outdoors. He loved to fish and hunt! He gave me my first weapon around the 1st grade. I remember scrounging thru the alleys shooting birds and squirrels. Although we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things in my younger years we always had the woods in common. Thru thick and thin we could always enjoy catching some crappie or sitting in a deer stand annoying each other with bad gas!! After two years I still catch myself dialing his number looking for guidance!!

We waited late in life to start our family; although I have been with my wife since 1992, our first child was born in 2011 and the second in 2015!! My father never got to see his only grandson; he will never have the opportunity to witness my son kill his first deer or my son catch his first bass on a plastic worm....... If I can be half the role model, educator, friend or coach to my children that my father was for me, then they will turn out just fine! I have some big shoes to fill.

I don't quite understand what "one exception- people who have contributed prior to this post being made" means. Do I qualify?

This is an incredible PIF! Not in but this get A LOT of attention from old members and new alike!

marlap said:

I don't quite understand what "one exception- people who have contributed prior to this post being made" means. Do I qualify?

Click to expand...

Prior to the posting of my original post yesterday at 616 PM

marlap said:

I don't quite understand what "one exception- people who have contributed prior to this post being made" means. Do I qualify?

Click to expand...

Oh, and at THIS time you do not qualify, due to less than 200 posts. However, this will be going on for 3 more weeks.

Wow! Not in but just wanted to say awesome job [MENTION=36529]oc_in_fw[/MENTION] and [MENTION=86441]WarrenB[/MENTION].

An Absolutely Spectacular Topic and Generous PIF, since my Watch's Band just broke today I am Definitely IN

I have Two very interlinked Stories Starting with the greatest Father Figure that I had growing up and that was my Grandfather and our trip to Lake Casitas in southern California to fish for large mouth bass every weekend when I was a child. We would sing songs all the way there on the 1 hour trip and all the way back. He was the guiding light in my young life who taught me the precious value's of patience, the epic novels written and recited by nature when we experience the wonders of our own silence. The pride in a days work and the wonders of gardening with nothing more than Dragon Flies and Lady bugs for Aphid control. He was Organic before it was a buzz word using nothing more than rotten fruit peels, grass clipping and expired vegetables as compost for fertilizer.

Enter myself becoming a Father, all of the above lessons and values have been passed on to my own Sons in the very same way, through fishing, gardening and singing the very same songs that me and my Grandfather sang together on our fishing trips. Two That I will never forget are:

Stay All Night... Stay A Little Longer and Tura Lura Lura.

Memories indeed that no amount of time could ever erase. 42 years old and it still brings tears of joy to my eyes to remember these times and the Great Man He was who made me the Man I am Today. I Am Proud To say that I followed in his footsteps and will also Retire from Our Navy this year after a 20 Year Career.

Good luck everyone and thank you so very much for the opportunity to share such fond memories.

I'm in...



My father when I was growing was a rather grumpy man. Having grandchildren has lightened him up quite a bit. Now my father is as blue collar as they come. Him and my mother learned they were having their first child when they were 19 and 15 respectively. Needless to say my grandfather was not happy about this. He was a marine and learned his mechanic skills in the corp. He has worked 2 jobs most of the time we were growing up and upwards of 70-80 work weeks with very little leisure time. However the little time he did have to enjoy his activities he took me with him. I remember sitting in the bowling alley with him peeking at the dirty playing cards, listening to the guys swear and act less than PC. I was always a little smart *** but he always let me hang around anyway. We didn't have much money growing up and hand me downs were a necessity but he always worked his butt off to make sure we were taken care of.

Now my father is a hunter and an overall shooting/outdoors enthusiast. I entered my first trap shoot when I was about 8 years old. One time driving back home from my grandparents house out in the country we pulled over to help a man who parked on the side of the highway and appeared to be holding something down. When my father when over to see what was going on the gentleman was holding down a small dog. He said that the dog kept trying to run into the highway. He stopped the dog and tried to let it go but said the dog kept biting him every time he would let him go. Well my father being the stone cold SOB he is walked back to our car, grabbed his pistol and walked back over to the man. The man immediately proclaimed that he's trying to save the dog and he doesn't want him shot. My father being him calmly told the animal rescuer, "Well here's the thing, if you want to get away from that I'm going to have to shoot it. That dog you're trying to save isn't a dog, it's a coyote!". Well the guy still felt bad for the animal and still didn't want it to be shot. My father shrugged, wished the guy luck and we were on our. I learned a very valuable life lesson that day from my father, You can't fix stupid!

I'm in. What an outstanding PIF!

I was in the 7th grade living in rural Arizona, up in the Bradshaw mountains outside of Prescott. I was staying home from school because I was sick. Really. Not faking it to get out of going to school. Flu and felt like death warmed over. It was a gorgeous fall day out and I was stuck inside feeling like crap. I was awakened by my dad coming home from work for lunch. He made lunch for me. Soup and sandwiches. He then asked how I was feeling, all that kind of junk. After lunch he said "Get dressed. We're going out". I didn't understand because I was really feeling like crap. We jumped into his truck, a 1962 International with Posi-traction. Off we went. But it wasn't into town, it was into the mountains. We drove the whole afternoon. We looked at abandoned mines, old Forest Ranger towers, abandoned mine camps, ghost towns, the Polland Tunnel (which is a railroad tunnel carved out of solid rock in northern AZ), and the thriving metropolis of Crown King, AZ population 6. There were crystal clear streams, deer and elk galore, golden eagles, and coyotes. We saw it all. It was awesome.

We got home late and my mom had dinner on the table. My dad took the afternoon off just to take me out. His philosophy was that fresh air was the best medicine. He was right. I was still sick, but I felt so much better. That is one of the best memories I have of my dad. It is the little things that make a big difference. Kids just need time with their dad. It doesn't have to be a specific activity, it doesn't have to accomplish a particular goal. It just has to be time spent enjoying each other's company. My dad passed in 1994. But the cool thing is, my son has fond memories of his Grand Dad. And that is all that matters. My dad would drive around with my son on his lap, make him grits on cold mornings, and just be with him. That's all it takes, Gentlemen. There is no skill, no expertise, no talent. Just time well spent.

Great job, guys.

I'm in, please. This is a wonderful idea.

My dad is still with us. I remember all the nice classic things he did for me and my brother. Little League and Cub Scouts are fond memories from when I was a youngster, along with family trips.

My son is now seven, and he recently joined Cub Scouts, in part because he heard me reminiscing about it.
He loves it. The Pinewood Derby was an echo of something I did with my dad. Another reason is that it gives us a chance to do more of something he's enjoyed since he was four: going on camping trips together.

My post might be a bit different. My dad and I did a lot of activities growing up and once I reached 16 or so, my dad switched gears and started spending more time with my brother who was 10. I always appreciate the time I spent with him, but since he raise me to be self sufficient, my time with him diminished. It was nice for me to see him bring my brother up in the same independent manner as myself. Now that I have a daughter, I'm trying to raise her the same way. Be there for her with any problem, but at the same time, allowing her to fail and learn from her experiences. She's 13 and I can see many of her friends' parents simply doing everything for them. At the end of the day, I want her to be able to function on her own.

Not in, but what a fabulous PIF! Good on ya!

This thread will surely get some attention when I am not at work.

I will not be in, but that is a pretty cool watch (not my style), and a touching subject for such a PIF.

Good form, Gentlemen.

Not in, but thank you for the PIF and the stories that have, and will, be shared.

When I was younger we had a family cabin near Mt Lassen. Across the road from the cabin was a meadow where we learned to fish with fly rods using #12 hooks baited with grasshoppers. I spent many an hour watching and learning how to fish with my dad. I probably spent just as much time ruining his fishing time too. We would wake up in the morning and go find dad where he was fishing in the meadow. He would help us across the creek by standing in the middle, holding our hand and flinging us across. We didn't always make it all the way across. I guess sometimes well timed accidents happen. I remember looking up to my dad thinking that some day I would be as big as he was. He used to wear the blue chambray work shirts. I can remember walking next to him looking up and I couldn't wait to be at least as tall as his shirt pocket. I figured that when I was that tall I would be grown up and just like him.
My dad has been gone for almost six years now. In my teen years we didn't always get along. In my 20's we became good friends. By the time I was 30 we were best friends. I learned an incredible number of things from him. Most things by following his examples. Some things by him teaching me to not do what he had done. I grew taller than his shirt pocket and eventually grew taller than he was. My wife and I haven't yet been blessed with kids, but when we are I pray that I'll be just like him.

I don't have a specific story to tell, our personalities didn't mesh very well, but he took me fishing quite a lot as I was growing up, and I still have his fishing stuff. He also taught me about the proper and safe use of firearms and gave me my first, and now I have his. He had to put up with a pretty rebellious kid, (me) and he didn't kill me, I guess that's a good story about fatherhood in itself!

Fatherhood for me is just trying to be a good example for my kids and now my granddaughter. And let them explore the world around us but be there for guidance.

Hope that'll do.


I'm in!