What is a Dad? Not someone that contributes 23 chromosomes and abandons you to be cared for by others. This is the true definition of a Dad.
My Dad
Stanley Martin Reynolds, Sr.
My Dad has been gone now for over 40 years. He passed at the young age of 53 years old on November 2, 1975. His imprint on my life, for the short time I had with him, is everything that I consider the best part of me. Dad became my dad when I was 7 years old. He took me in when I was a ward of the State living in a mental institution for children.
Dad grew up during the great depression, the son of a Doctor. He was the youngest of seven children. As a child, Dad contracted scarlet fever. The fever would cause him to suffer heart trouble for the rest of his short life. He accomplished much and had a great impact on many.
While in high school, Dad was very involved in sports. He played football and baseball. Also Dad participated in the Drama Club. He was quite the Renaissance Man. Very well liked and respected by everyone that knew him. He graduated in 1941.
At the height of World War II in 1943, Dad joined the Army Air Corps. He served for the duration of the war and was wounded twice. Dad met an English girl while convalescing from his wounds in England. They met at a USO dance. To make a long story short Dad fell in love with the English girl, and they were married. He told us kids that the war only gave him one good thing... his wife.
Dad only had two children of his own, a boy and a girl. Dad always loved children, so he decided to give a home to children that needed one. Though we were foster children, we were the best dressed in school and church on Sundays. Dad never referred to us as his foster children, but as his kids. Over Dad's lifetime he nurtured many abandoned children like myself.
What do I mean by nurture? Well, Dad would take us to the Poconos, to the Jersey Shore (Wildwood), to Lake George in Upstate New York, to the caverns in Virginia. We had the greatest vacations, all us kids piled into his station wagon.
Source Credit: WikiTravelChristmas was crazy! There would be gifts of nice clothes, toys that went literally from the living room through the kitchen to outside in the yard. Bicycles, Big Wheel. Always gifts on our birthdays. But the greatest gift my Dad ever gave me was his hugs, his love and support.
I have missed my Dad for over 40 years now. I often dream of him. I am thankful for the wonderful memories.
I never feel bad about having been a foster child. If I was not a foster child, I never would have had my wonderful Dad.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I appreciate it greatly!
Take time to hug someone today! You will really receive more than you give. Try it, you will like it. I guarantee it!
