Buildingo our cab - memories of my Dad

[RTSDaddy2]

I don't mean to take up nor waste space here...but as I finished one post it led me to this one.

As I've said elsewhere on this forum, my Dad is now in the advanced stages of Alzheimers.   Yeah, I know it's not unusual, and you just have to ride it out...but this wasn't what I imagined happening to him, not even in my worst nightmares.

As I sat posting about the el cheapo arcade machine I saw yesterday, I began to recall how much fun my wife, my Dad, and I had as we began putting the initial pieces of our home-built cabinet together.  I was excited because I thought we'd never start; he was excited because his son was finally interested in woodworking.  Dad was never a huge woodworker to begin with, but he knew how to fix things...and build things to fix things.  I think it was exciting to him to see me take that kind of interest in it.

We laughed, we cried, and we cursed this thing as it came together.  I can still see all 3 of us attaching the side panels; two holding the panel level, the other drilling in the screws through pilot holes.

He was down there most every day, until he realized there was a point where I  no longer needed his help.  Basically he and my wife said "It's his project, let him finish it."  Yet, he came back later and helped me with the routing, etc.

Who would have known that a year and a half later he would no longer be able to call me by name? 

I'd better stop - maybe I can tell more of this later...but Saint, thank you for providing us through your book a way to draw that close together for a final time.  Thank you, thank you, thank you until you are better paid.   

[ppilot]

I don't know what to say, except that my Dad and I went through the same thing together, and I know what you're feeling.  God bless both of you.

[davieboynj]

and

It must have been a great bonding experience - - i wish me and my dad did stuff like that together. 

[leapinlew]

RTSDaddy2 -

Hey bud. Touching post. I'd say your in the same age group as many of us and your not alone. Just this year my dad asked me to help him build a jukebox after he saw mine. Working with him was fun, but I can tell the years haven't been kind to him. He has a bum knee and needed help lifting some things. Not exactly the same man I remember growing up. The man I remember was 20 foot tall and could kill spiders with his bare hands.

Anyhow, keep a chin up. If you have kids, they are looking at you the same way as we looked at our Dads.

Lewis

[More Cowbell]

My 8 year old and I just started building a mini-Pac-Man cab together yesterday. These are the type of memory building things that will hopefully stay with him forever. If I can just keep him from cutting his hand off (now that memory would definitely stay with him forever).