Sunday, April 24, 2011
In Loving Memory of Craig's Father
Craig's father passed away at the age of 81 on April 1. For some reason I've been procrastinating about writing a blog post. I guess it's because it makes the whole thing seem so final.
We spent an entire weekend going through old photos, preparing a slideshow for the memorial service. I learned a lot more about my father-in-law's early life in the process. He had a love of sailing and raced Star Class boats. We saw pictures of him on his boats, and pictures of him and my mother-in-law underwater in diving bells during their honeymoon in Nassau.I guess this is where Craig gets his sense of adventure. Though his dad had to give up these adventures for the responsibilities of the family, he developed a life-long passion for golf.
Now today is Easter, and as we head to a family dinner, he will be sorely missed. And so I realize that I have to post this blog entry now.
I prepared a eulogy which I read at the memorial service. I'm including it here.
I first met Don in 1994, soon after I started dating Craig. Craig was a little apprehensive and prepared me to expect a bit of good-natured hazing. "If he likes you, he'll tease you. It's when he's quiet that you have to worry." I quickly learned to appreciate his wit as he good-naturedly teased me and regaled me with his trademark irreverent anecdotes, couplets, and limericks. You almost have to wonder if passing away on April Fool's Day was his final punchline.
As time passed and I got to know him better, more sides of him emerged. He possessed a genius intellect as well as the practical knowledge to construct or fix just about anything. In his later years he was a home-body and would worry about us any time we were on the road locally ("Drive careful!") or internationally ("Don't get hit by any poison blow-darts in the jungle!") He made us promise that we would lift up on pour airline armrests during takeoff when we were flying to "help the plane get off the ground." We did this for a while just to humor him, but it has evolved into a full-fledged superstition on our part. We can't NOT do it, as somewhere in the back of our minds, we suspect that failure to do so may cause a plane crash. Despite the fact that he worried about us, we also know that he was proud of us for traveling and making friends around the world. He even started suggesting destinations for us.
I am lucky to have had him as a father-in-law. He has instilled many great virtues into my husband, not the least of which are his sense of humor and work ethic. We treasure our home which he and Craig so lovingly constructed together.
Thank you, Dad, for everything. You are loved and missed.
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