Wednesday, June 24, 2026
In 1977 when I met my future wife, I was introduced to her father, Phil. I could immediately see that Phil was a man who lived a simple life, and seemed to me to be a genuine person. I quickly learned that my first impression of Phil was pretty accurate. I was 21 years old, Phil was 38. Never having had the experience of a father figure in my life to that point, I was so glad to have met someone whose values appeared to mirror mine, and so Phil, though he did not realize it, became that father figure I had longed for in my life up to that point, and he quickly earned my respect . Just from watching him and being around him, I leaned a lot about what a father should be, and this helped me enormously when it came time for me to be a father myself. I could feel that Phil was watching me as well to see if I was the right person to marry his daughter. Without any prompting, Phil would come and watch my baseball and football games; we would laugh a ton, do some stupid things, watch sports on TV together, play cards, golf, throw the ball around, and lots of other activities that I cherished so much since I had missed out on all of it in my first 21 years. Gosh, together we even learned how to curse better! But the thing I valued most is that I know that I earned Phil's respect, and that I was a valued person who through Phil was able to regain the respect and self esteem that I longed for. For all of the reasons I have listed herein, I was so blessed to have had the presence of Phil in my life for almost 50 years, and that he can not ever be forgotten. We will meet again, I am sure, in the not so distant future, and in hopefully a better place , rekindle our friendship, together with all of our other loved ones who have passed on before us. RIP Phil...see you soon!
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