Posted 4:19 PM by Paul
My Dad and the Empire State

My father died 35 years ago today aged 57 of pulmonary disease. This was brought about by a mixture of smoking, poor working conditions and hereditary factors. His own father - who he hardly knew - died at 29 of pneumonia. Like his father before him, Dad worked in a low-ceilinged factory making chisels by hand. Victorian conditions in 1960s Sheffield. I always dreamed that we would all go on holiday abroad when he was better and had enough money. I had a trip to Belgium planned in my head, but we never made it. He left us just before 4.00 a.m. on March 4th 1968.

So now every time I take the girls to Spain or Disneyland Paris I think of him. He would have been pleased that I had made the trip with my own children that he could not make with his. It reminds me of how precious time is.

This year we are going to Canada to see Heather's sister and we will be stopping over for a couple of days in New York. I will take the girls up the Empire State to admire the view of the Great City and think of the day I showed Dad my calculation showing how many inches tall the buidling was. He was pleased with me. For us the Empire State was the centre of the modern world. Strange to think that Dad knew nothing of the Twin Towers. They were built after he died.