Monday, September 15, 2014
I am sorry to hear that your father has passed away. He was from another era. The witnesses of this era are mostly gone now. It was an era that marked the men. They were dutiful to others and could be severe on themselves. You dad had a guttural and infectious laugh. He looked good with that pipe. Never said no to a coffee. He bonded with his dog and his dog was very loyal to Bill. Our fathers did their best. Were they the perfect fit for each of their children? We may as well ask if we were perfect fits for our fathers? The puzzle of life as between fathers and sons is as wide as any ocean. It's complexity grounded only in a simple love or a true respect or a bemused self recognition. Your dad was a man of another era. He didn't truck much with routine or the sublimated way. He was a bit of an outlaw. That's why I really liked him. He was self shaped and not an adapted cardboard cut out from the post war period. He'd seen regimented life and turned his back on all of that. I saw a rebel, at heart. Perhaps we see in other fathers what is usually the blind side, or the make belief side, when it comes to their actual sons views. Perhaps my Bill Best is just that. But my view, consisting of him as a true individual, sustained us in many pleasant and interesting conversations and permitted a warm glow between our eyes. I liked the man. He was one of a kind. Self constructed and proud of it. He put all that in his pipe. And he smoked it.
