Happy Birthday Today From Texas To My Dear Ol' Dad

That is my dad's high school graduation picture you are looking at.

My dad graduated from Nooksack High School a couple years after the end of World War II. Nooksack High School is in the town of Nooksack, near the town of Lynden, near the Canadian border, near where my mom lived at that point in time.

The Nooksack are a Pacific Northwest Indian tribe.

Today is my dad's birthday.

Had you told my dad on the day this picture was taken that in the year 2011 he would be living in Arizona and his son would be in Texas, sending his picture out to the world, with a happy birthday greeting, on a blog, using something called a computer and the Internet, likely none of that would have made any sense.

Nor would my dad have been, way back then, able to understand how his son would be able to call him, long distance, for free, to wish him a happy birthday. And to do so whilst driving.

I remember when I was a kid it was a long distance call to call from Burlington to Lynden. All calls had to be very short. You got charged by the second for long distance calls back in Ancient Times.

In July of 2002 I flew north for the biggest family reunion ever of my dad's side of my family relations. This reunion took place at the fairgrounds in Lynden. At that reunion people I did not know would come up to me and say they knew who I was, without needing to ask, because I looked just like my dad. At the time I thought that odd, but now I sort of see the resemblance, except my dad has a cooler haircut. At least back in his senior year in high school.

Pretty much all of my good traits, such as they are, I got from my dad. Like always being totally calm and unflappable while driving. I have never ever seen my dad even remotely lose his temper. Lord knows he has had plenty of reason to, but I've never seen it happen. My dad has always been a Mr. Fix-it. Years ago it was fixing TVs.  Among other things. The last time I was in Washington my sister had a multi-page to-do list for my dad to get done during mom and dad's one week stay. Everything from fixing doors, building shelves to digging up rhododendrons.

If my memory serves me correctly, my sister and dad dug deep around the rhododendrons and I came along later and wrenched them out of the ground.

I have no idea what my mom and dad are doing today for my dad's birthday. When I talked to my mom Saturday night they had been being busy traveling about with one of my aunts. That is likely continuing.