This is the last known photo of my dad. He was a drifter, a ruffian, a troublemaker, of sorts. Left for a pack of smokes one day and never came back, I’m told. It was pretty sad. … Not really, he was great, actually. He drank too much, which wasn’t easy to be around, but he overcame it in his later years and became the man we still remember him as today. He was a classic dad teaser, a reader, a quiet, rational, philosophical thinker, and he encouraged us early on to be as responsible in life as possible, or to “own your own shit” I remember he put it once. Which was the only advice I’ve ever needed to get along in this world. I mean, I’m still a work in progress. But damn it if you weren’t right, dad. He loved long drives, too, which he passed on to me – see you out there today buddy.
