Happy Father's Day

This is the first Father's Day without Dad, as he passed away last October 21 at the age of 79 years old.
Dad was always a provider who worked hard and believed all people should have an opportunity in America.
As a child growing up in the 1970's, I remember Dad and my uncle John sharing in conversation about politics at family gatherings and both were strongly opinionated, especially when it came to President Nixon.
My Dad and uncle John (along with my Grandpa on my Mom's side of the family) agreed that Richard M. Nixon was indeed, a crook.
That was in the summer of 1973 and Nixon resigned a year later in August of 1974.
Both my parents helped to shape my political views (though I didn't really follow politics much until adulthood) as my late Mom (she passed away in April of 1993) was involved in a "Beef Club" the Chicago Sun Times used to print regularly back in the '70's and early 1980's.
That was back when newspapers in this country actually reported real news and went after politicians and held them accountable for their actions or lack thereof on behalf of the people who actually elected them.
My Dad would vote along with Mom and even though they were registered Democrats, if there was a disagreement with the party of their choice, they would not hesitate to vote for the Republican candidate.
Of course, that was back nearly 40 years ago when moderate GOP party members still existed.
Dad was happy to see Barack Obama elected as President of the United States four years ago, but knew he would have a hard time because of the still existing prejudice that pervades in our country in this, the 21st century.
Sad, but true.
Of Dad's least favorite presidents was Ronald Reagan, the "union buster" as Dad would call him, along with a couple of expletives regarding the former president.
Turns out Dad was correct as Reagan was a union buster, going back to his treatment of the PATCO workers in 1981 when they threatened to strike during contract negotiations. Reagan fired the PATCO workers due to the threat and that was the acceleration of the still ongoing war against unions by the Republicans and big money interests that control things.
Our household was indeed a union one as Dad worked as a member of Local 17, the Heat & Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers in Chicago, Illinois.
Today at age 47, I am also a proud member of that union trade and it continues to be a good living for a working person who is part of the shrinking middle class in this country.
Dad believed in his work ethic and when  it came to backing up his beliefs, he would let fly with a expletive or two (or three) to help get the point across. Gee, I wonder where I got my opinions from regarding the salty language displayed on occasion at Heftyinfo.
 Old School!
 Dad was also a sports fan and our family would go to Cubs and White Sox baseball games every summer, even though the teams were rather lousy in the 1970's and early 1980's until finally breaking through with the Sox winning their division in 1983 and then the Cubs actually doing the same a year later.
Both teams were eliminated in the playoffs and failed to reach the World Series.
The 1985 Chicago Bears were awesome and won Super Bowl XX as Dad took note of by proudly wearing his Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX Champions ball cap for years after the feat by the 'Monsters of the Midway.'
Then, of course, there was the Chicago Bulls three-peat champions from 1991-93, which both Mom and Dad took great pride in because yours truly had direct involvement with the team as the sound producer/engineer at Chicago Stadium during Bulls' home games for seven years.
My parents were able to get to a game during the 1992-93 season about a month before Mom died and I will always remember meeting up with them afterward and Dad in particular saying how proud he was.
By the time the White Sox finally won the World Series in 2005, Dad's health was beginning to get worse as time went by and he wasn't as intense in his support about the sports world by then.
But I remember the stories Dad would tell about the old Comiskey Park where, as a youngster, he would go to see the White Sox (Luke Appling was his favorite player) and the former Chicago Cardinals football team with Ernie Nevers and company.
So, as Father's Day 2012 is here, a trip to the cemetery is in store today to remember my Dad and to say hello and reflect on the memories.
Happy Father's Day.