This just happened a couple of weeks ago. Thinking of mother's day, I was looking at some old memorabilia of my mother's, a jewelry box and found a 'false' bottom which had some poems I did not know existed. It was typed, clearly by my Dad, who died about 20 years ago. because he signed them, and they were about disparate topics, none of which were romantic. ( those were kept in a very specific place with instructions to be burned when she died) He wrote one entitled 'Napoleon's Austerlitz' Now he sure did not need to sign that. I don't know a lot of folks that will be writing verses about what evidently is a war battle in 1805! All my life that man kept finding occasions to teach people history. If you sat with him at dinner, rode with him in a car, or happened upon him in his library, one way or another, like it or not you were going to be exposed to history. Sometimes it rubbed off, sometimes it bemused, or bored us, often it became a mild irritant, but it was Dad and there was no escape Almost a quarter of a century, after my last history lesson at his hands, he reached out and taught me about the Battle of Three Emperors, Bonaparte's tactics and aftermath, and the treaty of Pressburg. I sure wish I heard his voice telling me, instead of Wiki, or him reading that poem, but that was not to be. So I simply offer this link in his name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Austerlitz. Dad would love it if you cared to check it out. He was a teacher by profession and passion. "The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. In what is widely regarded as the greatest victory achieved by Napoleon, the Grande Armée of France defeated a larger Russian and Austrian army led by Emperor Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire (modern-day Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic). Austerlitz brought the War of the Third Coalition to a rapid end, with the Treaty of Pressburg signed by the Austrians later in the month. The battle is often cited as a tactical masterpiece, in the same league as other historic engagements like Cannae or Gaugamela.[6][7]" No escaping the lessons your Dad teaches you. Thank God.
My best memory of my dad was the times he would get up at 4:30 AM to drive me on my morning newspaper route because it was raining. After we completed the route we would go home, eat breakfast, he would go to work and I would go to school. I always appreciated him getting up at 4:30 AM to help me.
My father taught me how to read, write and do math. He gave me my love of learning. He never ate before he made sure my sister, me and our mother were fed. He walked us to the library every week to hear "story time" and helped me get my first library card. He taught me how to swim and fish. Oh, how many morning we got up before sunrise! He took us to ethnic restaurants so we could try different foods and learn about other cultures. He wouldn't allow us to have candy or many sweets so it was a treat when he bought home pure sugar cane from the local farmer. He risked his life (as a Chicago police officer) to make sure we had shelter, food and clothing. He wasn't a perfect man, but he was a fabulous dad.
