Today would have been my Dad’s 85th birthday. I wish I could write about our long years together, the joys we shared, his interests and accomplishments, but at 28 he died in an accident. I was four and a half. That’s not a lot of time to build memories of a parent, and I want to remember more than I do, but here are some random thoughts:

• He had a goofy sense of humor and he and my mum laughed a lot together.
• He was brilliant.
• He’d always wanted a Great Dane, so my 4th birthday present was…Jeff, a Great Dane puppy.
• He was a nomad like the rest of my family–born in Kansas, living in several states before going to high school and college in Maryland, on to Alaska and Germany.
• His college best friend loved him so much that he dedicated a murder mystery to him 50 years after he died.
• He liked The Weavers (me too).
• I have his smile.

Happy birthday, Daddy. Love you.

William Edward (Stephenson) Hare (1933-1961) – took his step-father’s surname, Hare.