A lot of former soldiers and cops. Wonder what that says about us fanboys...
My father's name is Robert. He grew up on a farm in West Virginia (where they've now found a **** ton of natural gas so he might get to retire fairly soon, which is amazing because he's never been able to save money for retirement).
He wanted to go into the Air Force, but some kind of vision issue kept him out. So he went into the Army Reserves so he could go to college, was a Sergeant and drove a tank. He was stationed in Germany and went around Europe. He never saw combat, though I'm told he was "this close" to going to Vietnam. After he got out of the army, he apparently did anything and everything, including managing a KFC, trying law school, which he hated, and being a paramedic, back when I guess they didn't have to be paid. He was a drummer at some point, and he went to college WVU when it was the number one party school in the nation, and majored in political science. He married a woman named "Starla", and divorced her after one year, then met my mom and married her within 6 months, and,had me at 32. The one thing I remember about him as a child is that while he got angry, he was really quiet about it. His quiet words would piss you off more than anything else. The other thing I remember is one time I wanted a Quick Change Bruce Wayne, from the BATMAN RETURNS collection, and I called and called stores trying to find one. So the store tells me they have one more. And my dad, who worked in Cleveland, like an hour away from where we were, tells me he'll go pick it up after work. The store refuses to hold it for me. So I call back an hour or so later, to make sure it's still there, and the guy goes "I'm sorry, we just sold it". And I'm distraught. And then my father comes home late that night, and I'm crying about the figure, and he just smiles and tosses me a plastic bag. He'd taken off work immediately after finding out there was one and driven down to get it for me, then driven back up to Cleveland to finish work, then back down after work.
He worked in the insurance industry for oh, 20 years or so, and then decided he hated taking orders and taking the blame as a manager and quit. He went down to Nashville during the tornados about 10 years ago, and in one month, he made enough money to pay off all car and home debts, buy a van and the latest insurance gadgets, and set up his own independent adjusting business, which I think he wants me to take over at some point. I always thought I'd never want a job like his, and when I got into myself, almost on accident, I really enjoyed it.
My dad's father died when I was a few months old, due to some kind of malpractice, I'm told. Then my grandmother came to live with us when I was 18 and my father took care of her.
He loves auto racing, and he's been to that "drive an Indy car" thing in Indiana several times, loves going to the Indy 500, and to the local racetrack near Mansfield, OH, Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.
He's a handyman, and pretty much built anything we needed. We helped him build a treehouse when we were kids, and he and I rebuilt an engine so I could have a car as a teenager.
Now he loves hosting neighborhood "drinking parties" in the backyard that he and my mother converted into this weird party garden thing with a firebit and a clothesline system that they show movies on.
I'm kind of apprehensive about losing him now, because my friend just lost her father recently. I try to spend time with him when I can, but it's difficult as I get older.
