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My father died last night.


Brisketexan

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Sorry for your loss Bisket. Losing a parent and the feelings, emotions and memories that flood back always is hard to describe and different than I expected. Lost my mom a couple years ago in December and in the past year I have noticed my dad starting to slow down a lot.  It’s really hard for me to imagine when they will both be gone.  

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1 hour ago, Frank Drebin said:

Sorry for your loss.  I lost my dad when I was 16.  I doubt it is any easier at an older age.

Same.  Still think about him every day.  But it's almost always the good times at this point.

Edited by dcbc
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Brisket,

You're one of the people on this barge of reprobates I'd most like to treat to a drink IRL, and I've no doubt that is in no small part due to your father's love and guidance even when you - like most of us - wanted nothing to do with it.

Having read your posts for years, I also have no doubt that you have done the same for your kids; you and your wife are to credit for that, of course, but your parents also live on through that and through you as well.

I lost my Dad - damn - 38 years ago, and Mom nearly 10 now, but they are always nearby even though I can't ask them all the things I wish I still could. They still bring a smile and a sense of warmth to me, as I know your Dad forever will to you.

Thank you for what was a beautiful eulogy, and for reminding us of our own fathers, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yours was heavily tilted towards the good. Be well, take solace in your memories, your family, and the good man he helped you become, and I'll see ya out on the ledge now and again.

(Jeez, man, I can't follow your post and South Austin's! SMDH.)

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Brisket is a really terrific writer, especially when it comes to these sorts of things.  A lot of us know the rules like psycho grammar Nazis (ie me), but brisket has a real talent for conveying humanity and emotion.

Also, the signs were there, but I didn't notice until now that Brisket was another only child, like me.  The rift with his father I think is something all of us go through to a greater degree or another, but I think it's worse for only children.  I never had the temerity to have a single, sort of hard rift with my father or either of my parents:  I was too awed by them and frankly scared of them.

It probably would have done me good to have a hard adolescent or teen rift instead of the kind of simmering, passive-aggressive rift that we had.

 

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2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Brisket is a really terrific writer, especially when it comes to these sorts of things.  A lot of us know the rules like psycho grammar Nazis (ie me), but brisket has a real talent for conveying humanity and emotion.

Also, the signs were there, but I didn't notice until now that Brisket was another only child, like me.  The rift with his father I think is something all of us go through to a greater degree or another, but I think it's worse for only children.  I never had the temerity to have a single, sort of hard rift with my father or either of my parents:  I was too awed by them and frankly scared of them.

It probably would have done me good to have a hard adolescent or teen rift instead of the kind of simmering, passive-aggressive rift that we had.

 

We need to start a parents thread, because Brisket's stories and post like yours are churning up all sorts of interesting stories and memories about my dad that I'd like to share, but I don't want to hijack this thread. 

 

Now, having said that, . . .  my dad was older when he had me at 63 in 1973.  I had one sister (11 years older) and 3 half brothers (around my mom's age).  There was a 30 year gap between my dad and my mom.  I revered him, occasionally feared him (irrationally), and loved him.  I got 16 years, but boy were they good.  The only time he laid a finger on me was when I mouthed off to him---in a fishing boat no less--and I got two fingers on the chin with a warning to not ever talk that way to him again.  I didn't.  He was eulogized by a methodist pastor (and golfing buddy) as "The Turk of Manly Men."  He also spent a lot of time in Argentina in the 50s when his company was building a pipeline down there.  So I'm wondering if his and Brisket's dad's paths crossed.  I still have some Gaucho water color paintings he brought back from Argentina, which he had in his office, in my office now.  He was a pilot and was really proud of the fact that he flew his plane over the Andes down to Argentina during those times.

/okay.  So I threadjacked a bit.  Sorry

//I've had a chance to read Brisket's legal writing in the past and have seen him argue a case on appeal.  He's very good---to that point: it happened over twenty years ago and I still have a decent memory of it all (once he put two and two together on it for me a few years back).

Edited by dcbc
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9 hours ago, dcbc said:

I've had a chance to read Brisket's legal writing in the past and have seen him argue a case on appeal.  He's very good---to that point: it happened over twenty years ago and I still have a decent memory of it all (once he put two and two together on it for me a few years back).

So did he get his client’s speeding ticket overturned, or what?

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1 hour ago, South Austin said:

So did he get his client’s speeding ticket overturned, or what?

Amusing thing.  I have had one argument before the Texas Supreme Court.  The argument that preceded mine concerned whether the administrative suspension of a driver's license that coincides with arrest for DWI was a violation of due process.  So, the lawyer that was arguing it was some poor schlub misdemeanor criminal defense lawyer with little appellate experience, especially outside criminal law.  He wasn't bad by any stretch, but just  . . . so  . . .  casual about the whole thing.

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Sorry for the loss of your Dad. 

Thanks for sharing a bit of his life and your relationship with him. I shared a small bit of my Dad (who I lost) a few years ago on the baseball board. Being of the same generation (our dads), your story could be mine. Tough but caring and not always seeing eye to eye but you knew they wanted the best for you. 

RIP Father Brisket 🤘

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5 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Amusing thing.  I have had one argument before the Texas Supreme Court.  The argument that preceded mine concerned whether the administrative suspension of a driver's license that coincides with arrest for DWI was a violation of due process.  So, the lawyer that was arguing it was some poor schlub misdemeanor criminal defense lawyer with little appellate experience, especially outside criminal law.  He wasn't bad by any stretch, but just  . . . so  . . .  casual about the whole thing.

Yeah...I've had cases before SCOTX.  Only actually had oral argument on one.  I lost, 9-0, in a decision that came out 45 days after arguing.

I bumped into then Justice Wainwright a couple of months later, and he actually sought me out to tell me what a great job I did arguing. I said "Dale...dude...I lost 9-0."  He laughed and said "oh, the statute was totally against you, but you did a damned good job arguing a case you had to know you were gonna lose."  I replied "I argued it that way because I thought I could win.  I ALWAYS think there's a way to win."  Which made him laugh, and he remembered he felt the same way when he was litigating.

So, I lost.  And it sucked.  Even though the entire state seemed to know I was going to lose.  But I argued like hell anyway, because no matter the case....

dumb-and-dumber-lloyd.gif

I don't think my old man ever got to see me in court.  Not that it's a particularly exciting spectator sport.

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@Brisketexan, sorry for your loss.  Truly.  My grandparents raised me, and my grandfather was the best man I have ever known.  Just a kind hearted, jovial, and happy person who thought (incorrectly) I hung the moon.  The worst part of his life was when my grandmother passed.  Whenever I would visit him, he had a big framed picture of her before their wedding right by his chair.  I think those of us left behind are often the unlucky ones.  I'm happy your father is reunited with your mother.

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3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

I don't think my old man ever got to see me in court.  Not that it's a particularly exciting spectator sport.

My dad got to see me in court for the first time in May 2023, for closing argument at the end of a jury trial over a $25 million land purchase and some very complicated land entitlement issues. I gave a pretty bang-up closing, if I can toot my own horn, and after closings were done and the jury retired for deliberations, my dad leans into the in-house counsel of my large national publicly-traded client and says, “I thought he did a great job. I have no idea what he was talking about, but it was great!”

Edited by South Austin
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What a nice tribute to him. My father passed thirty years ago and I still think of him daily.  Strange that I’ve lived more years after he passed than I had with him. 
The first time something happens and you reflexively think about picking up the phone and telling him is tough. 
Hopefully you will rest in gratitude for the lessons learned, the love and the fact that you had him for as long as you did. 

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I'm so sorry Brisket. Your dad sounds like he was an amazing human being. Y'all were lucky to have him and his legacy lives on in you and your kids.  

Loss of a loved one hits like a freight train when it first hits, but these things get easier with time. Never goes away, but it does get easier to bear. 

May memories of your father carry you until then. 

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11 hours ago, South Austin said:

So did he get his client’s speeding ticket overturned, or what?

TfSguh.gif

10 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

Condolences, brother.

Let's dedicate this year's cannonball run to beat ousux in his memory.

Just got a new ride, and I can't think of a better way to christen it.

Are you guys going to dress up like the "great looking chicks" in the Lambo?  You know, just in case you get pulled over?

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1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

Don't tempt me. I'll grow out my skullet, throw on a denim skirt, and rock some bedazzled heels.

I'm a sexy bitch.

Sometimes, you gotta show a little leg to get out of that ticket.

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