A Father's Stories
Posted by Gord at 6/24/2008 2:47 PM and is filed under uncategorized 
My Father will be 87 years old next month and he and my Mom are visiting me
here in Milford, Nova Scotia for a couple weeks. Dad has had his share of health
problems in the last couple of years and recently he was diagnosed with a Bone
Marrow - blood problem linked to leukemia. The Doctors are keeping him stable
with regular blood work and the occasional visit to the Hospital for Blood infusion
which brings up his "good" blood and it rejuvenates him
It will gradually worsen over the next months and years but Mom and Dad still
live in their own house and are managing with everything. Dad loves to tell stories
about the "old days" and I listen with fascination at times and lately he puts in
more personal details than he has before. I wrote "at times" because there are those
more memorable stories he recalls where I know the events but I still like to hear him tell it.
The Big One...WW II
My parents were born in Hemsbach, Germany and immigrated to Canada in 1954.
History classes in School taught me a lot about World War II. Reading books,
TV, and watching movies about the war was usually depicted from the Allies
point of view.
Dad told me about a different part of the war. His involvement as a Merchant Marine
drafted as "support division" to the German Navy. He'd pause and seemed like his eyes
would moisten when mentioning about a good friend lost here and a school buddy
was killed there. Death and destruction was a part of everybody's lives that were
involved.
The Bismark
Amazing stories like when his ship was in the same harbor that the great German
Battleship, Bismark was steaming for while being hunted by the Royal Navy. Dad's
ship had a radioman who was sworn to secrecy about messages he was reading that
were sent back and forth between German Command and the Bismark. Years later
after the war the Radioman recalled "Command" ordering the Captain and the crew of
the Bismark not to surrender no matter what. While Dad was on duty on his ship the
Bismark was being hammered by the British warships and sunk 200 miles out to sea.
1944 in the same harbor, the Bismark's sister ship Tirpitz was in port for repairs.
On a Sunday morning, Dad heard sirens that warned of incoming enemy aircraft
and went to his battle station. He heard explosions and a friend next to him fell
to the ship's deck as a piece of burning shrapnel hit him in the leg. The Tirpitz,
a mile across the harbor from Dad's ship had been hit by English bombers and
she lay over on her side critically damaged.
The Tirpitz
These true stories can take Dad up to 2 to 3 hours to tell with a lot of detail and I
take it all in and try to imagine what it was like. This is a fast paced world we live in
today, trying to keep the "wolf from the door" and spending some time with family
and friends. When your parents call or visit and want to share some stories with
you, remember, no one can stop the hands of time. It's too late when they are gone
and wish you had listened to more stories of their past and your heritage.
here in Milford, Nova Scotia for a couple weeks. Dad has had his share of health
problems in the last couple of years and recently he was diagnosed with a Bone
Marrow - blood problem linked to leukemia. The Doctors are keeping him stable
with regular blood work and the occasional visit to the Hospital for Blood infusion
which brings up his "good" blood and it rejuvenates him
It will gradually worsen over the next months and years but Mom and Dad still
live in their own house and are managing with everything. Dad loves to tell stories
about the "old days" and I listen with fascination at times and lately he puts in
more personal details than he has before. I wrote "at times" because there are those
more memorable stories he recalls where I know the events but I still like to hear him tell it.
The Big One...WW II
My parents were born in Hemsbach, Germany and immigrated to Canada in 1954.
History classes in School taught me a lot about World War II. Reading books,
TV, and watching movies about the war was usually depicted from the Allies
point of view.
Dad told me about a different part of the war. His involvement as a Merchant Marine
drafted as "support division" to the German Navy. He'd pause and seemed like his eyes
would moisten when mentioning about a good friend lost here and a school buddy
was killed there. Death and destruction was a part of everybody's lives that were
involved.
The Bismark
Amazing stories like when his ship was in the same harbor that the great German
Battleship, Bismark was steaming for while being hunted by the Royal Navy. Dad's
ship had a radioman who was sworn to secrecy about messages he was reading that
were sent back and forth between German Command and the Bismark. Years later
after the war the Radioman recalled "Command" ordering the Captain and the crew of
the Bismark not to surrender no matter what. While Dad was on duty on his ship the
Bismark was being hammered by the British warships and sunk 200 miles out to sea.
1944 in the same harbor, the Bismark's sister ship Tirpitz was in port for repairs.
On a Sunday morning, Dad heard sirens that warned of incoming enemy aircraft
and went to his battle station. He heard explosions and a friend next to him fell
to the ship's deck as a piece of burning shrapnel hit him in the leg. The Tirpitz,
a mile across the harbor from Dad's ship had been hit by English bombers and
she lay over on her side critically damaged.
The Tirpitz
These true stories can take Dad up to 2 to 3 hours to tell with a lot of detail and I
take it all in and try to imagine what it was like. This is a fast paced world we live in
today, trying to keep the "wolf from the door" and spending some time with family
and friends. When your parents call or visit and want to share some stories with
you, remember, no one can stop the hands of time. It's too late when they are gone
and wish you had listened to more stories of their past and your heritage.
Thank you so much for sharing this story. My grandmother had a very fulfilling life. Naturally the time came to when her journey here on Earth came to an end. Fortunately, I was blessed with having the honor of being one of the only people who had the desire to spend an entire month with her in the hospital.
I slept in a hard wood chair for a month while spent the nights with her as she shared many many wonderful stories about her youth on and off through out what seemed endless nights only to be interrupted periodically by the nurses coming in to change IV fluids or checking of vitals.
I learned so much in that short amount of time, things that I could never have learned anywhere else and gained information that is absolutely priceless.
Shockingly not many people in my family value the time invested with a dying member. My father died at age 58 to lung cancer. He died 5 years prior to my grandmother. When I learned of his illness, I moved my family to Tennessee so that I could be with him and we had precisely one year together before his time came to an end.
People are walking history books. People store information in them and once they pass away, their internal memories die too unless you are fortunate to have those memories shared with you.
Both my grandmother and father have passed away and I now hold their shared memories in my mind. They are unique to me and something no one else will have.
Reply to this
You said it all Garry, I admire your dedication and love for your family.
Thank you
Gord
Reply to this