A Boy From Nebraska....

It's Father's Day. I'm blessed with an amazing dad, who is still up and around and, though moving a bit slower now at 87, is still a nut!

While going through old boxes of memories from my grandmother, I found a series of telegrams dating from September 13th, 1940 through May 29th, 1948. My dad sent these home to his folks, each one a brief glimpse into my dad's life as he was looking for a job with the airlines, and was ultimately hired by American Airlines (During World War II, half of American's fleet was turned over to the military airline, Air Transport Command, along with the crews, including dad, who operated all over the world) when he was 20 years old.

They are simple statements, oddly like the snippets on Twitter nowadays. September 13, 1940 - 'Dear folks I arrived here all right weather is warm = Jude' (Dad's childhood nickname, Jude, given to him by his sister, I believe).

August 24, 1942 - 'Dear folks hired by American start at Chicago September first will leave here as soon as possible will get room with Janci near airport if possible hold mail until you hear from me can reach me in Chicago at 6142 Milwaukee or Newcastle 4807 love = Jude' (Janci remained a lifelong friend of my dad's until his death a few years back)

April 8, 1944 - 'Dear folks just a line to let you know I am thinking of you over Easter as always love = Jude Dooley'

On July 8, 1946 a telegram from Shanghai with Dad's schedule...July 14, 1946 from Honolulu... July 15, 1946 from San Francisco....November 24, 1946 off to Ireland. New Year's Day, 1947 found dad preparing to leave for London, Paris, Rome and Cairo.

A small town boy from Nebraska, my dad never stopped loving his job. He told me once he was always happy to go to work. He knew he had a job that was 'not the usual job', and for that he was always grateful. As he was nearing retirement some 40 years after telegraphing his new job to his proud parents in 1942, he started flying 747s from Los Angeles to Hawaii. My mom and I took the trip with him once, staying in Hawaii for 10 days while he flew in and out of Honolulu.

Hawaii was beautiful; my mom and I had a great time. The strongest memory I have from that trip, though, is seeing my dad, the captain of that 747, through the window of the cockpit while we were waiting to board. Once the plane departed, I was the coolest kid on the plane when dad, quite impressive in his uniform, came back to check on us. Wow!!

I've assembled copies of all those telegrams in a notebook for Dad for Father's Day. I'm hoping he'll take pen in hand and write a few of the stories he told me recently while we were looking through those snippets of time. I see a book in the works...I'll keep you posted!

Happy Father's Day, Dad.