that familiar smile

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of my dad's passing. This picture was taken shortly before he died.

I miss him alot. He loved playing with my son. He doted on him so much. Dad was fascinated with EVERYTHING my son did. He spoiled my son so much and I loved it, too.

It makes me sad that he's not here and Carter is missing out on all that extra love and playfulness. Dad was the type of man open to all experiences. He didn't shy away from trying new foods, going to different places. And my parents always encouraged my brother and I to also not be afraid to do something different - to take some chances. Dad was very laid back, though. While he could get angry and frustrated (he WAS German and Irish!! LOL!), for the most part, he took things in stride. As you can see, even at almost 65 years old, he was very happy to be sledding with the kids.

Yesterday, my mom gave me a stack of old photos from his days in Vietnam. My dad was always a photographer at heart. And he was good enough to also label the photos on the back with the names of the people in the pics. My dad NEVER talked about his days in Vietnam. even when I had school assignments to learn more about the war, he just couldn't help. All I know is that he did 2 tours and was caught up in the TET offensive. I'm very motivated to try to find the people in the pictures and maybe learn more about my dad from a different perspective than my family's. I understand it was different over there and, sure, there will likely be information that I'm not going to like to hear, but I'm eager to find out more. I'm hoping that it will be easier to find some of the people on the internet and such. I wonder if people would remember him and respond to my inquiries.... it's a scary venture.

Right now, it's just awesome to look through the pictures and see that familiar smile.

In memoriam - Jim K. 3/2/06