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The last few Saturdays I’ve taken my dad shopping – for groceries, for shoes, for a haircut. My dad moves slowly these days and there is nothing efficient about heading with him to the grocery store. I love efficiency – in fact I have a tendency to be downright egotistical about my ability to do things quickly. So these expeditions require me to move into a different time zone ... the time zone inhabited by a body that is slowly betraying my dad. I get the things he can no longer reach, lift the heavy items, check with my mom by cell phone with any questions, help him into the car, carry the bags up to the condo, and put things away. It is a slow process. 
My dad was born into a Navy family and he followed the family tradition by going to the Naval Academy and serving for several years in the Navy. He graduated in 1946 and got married the summer after graduation.
My dad and I met for the first time when I was eleven months old. He was posted to Korea when my mom was seven months pregnant and his thirteen-month deployment included the first eleven months of my life. According to family lore, I regularly cried when strange men said hell0. My mom frequently 
showed me a picture of my dad. When he arrived home it was love at first sight on both sides!
showed me a picture of my dad. When he arrived home it was love at first sight on both sides! My dad taught me to hammer and saw, to prune apricot trees, to plant and harvest vegetables and to bake bread. He taught me to say “thank you” when I received a compliment on my flute playing, even if I, the perfectionist, was not entirely pleased with my performance. He taught me those basic military precepts – RHIP (rank hath its privileges) and RHIR (rank hath its responsibility).
My dad’s unwavering honesty set a high standard for my life. 
His love and support for all of my endeavors gave me the self-confidence to believe that I could do whatever I chose in life. My love of numbers and mathematics comes from my dad.
His love and support for all of my endeavors gave me the self-confidence to believe that I could do whatever I chose in life. My love of numbers and mathematics comes from my dad. Of course there are a few less positive traits too – the quick temper, the tendency to eat too fast .....
With this lifetime of memories, I am trying to slow down and savor the slow pace. It is good to have time to talk and to share. And if it takes a couple of hours to buy the groceries, that is just fine.
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