Bobbie learned more and more abot her father, Stan, as she got older. Considering his background, he succeeded in life. Bouncing from one foster home to another, Bobbie’s dad and his two younger brothers were continuously living in fear. At his funeral in 2010, one of Stan’s younger brother (Uncle Nick) told everyone a story about how much heart Stan had for people in general. He was the guy that beat up bullies, although he was a small guy himself. Nick said that one day, one of their foster parent’s tried to beat Nick, and Stan jumped inbetween the two of them with a baseball bat and threatened, “Don’t you ever hurt my little brother.” Bobbie then realized that it was Stan’s nature to be courageous…just like the time he beat up the two bullies that were hurting that one helpless boy. Bobbie also recalled Stan talking about the days he ate mustard and onion soup for the longest time because they were poor. Hence, his pet-peeve for those who wasted food. She also remembers when he told her a story about how his supervisor in the military who took care of him by allowing him to take left-over ham and other side dishes home to feed his family. Stan embraced where he came from and treated people equally. Despite his lack of education growing up, he read many books after coming home from work, and he also obtained a bachelor’s degree by his fifties. Stan excelled in his government/civilian job as a GS-13. Stan was a hard worker, so it made sense to Bobbie that he did well in his career. Although there was a lot of drama in Stan’s family life, Bobbie believes that Stan was the best father he knew how to be.
Leave a Reply