In a bulding funk and can't get out.

[dave siegler]

I lost my Dad about a month ago.  he was only 71. He wasn't a modeler per say, but a real good wood worker.  And we built airplanes.  He got my brother and I started.  We did a few projects together in later life  

He built most of the tables and chairs in my house from local wood.   All my woodworking tool were from him.  He liked to carve and did a lot of duck decoys.  I have about 10 real nice wood tool boxes he built too.    

Now when ever I go in the shop, I can't pick up a drill.   It isn't fun right now.  Man this is tough.

I hope to get over this soon
Dave  

[Osni Renato]

Hello Dave.
It really is a sad situation but the time is in charge of turning grief into good memories.
In these moments we must have faith in God and always be at the side of true friends.
Do not be sad. Remember that your father always be with you and your true friends will support you during difficult times.
I'm sure that you will overcome this moment.

 Sincerely

Osni

[Serge_Krauss]

When Dad passed, shortly followed by Mom, aged about 92 and 91 respectively, we had to clean out my old boyhood home (not really done yet). There were many tools, some of which I remember from my childhood, even used to build our home in 1947-8. Now, I use some of these, and when I do, I feel a little closer to Dad and think that perhaps he'd be happy knowing that we share these personal items and that I've carried on something we did together and that he taught me. It is a comfort and the core of some nice quiet times.

SK

[Mike Griffin]

Dave my dad died in 1978 at the age of 63, the same age I am today.  He and mom lived on Barkley Lake in western Kentucky where I was born and grew up.  Dad retired at 55 because of heart problems and built a nice house on the lake after he retired so he could enjoy fishing and working in his shop.  He was the one who got me into control line when I was only 15.  He had a Smoothie and he helped me build a Ringmaster and we would go fly together with some of his friends and I would not take anything for those memories.  He built a little shop beside the house on the lake when he retired and made furniture and clocks and did some carving like your dad did.  He had most every tool he needed except a router.  It was somewhere around the middle of December and I had been transferred to Florida because of my job.  I went to Sears and bought the best router I could find, gift wrapped it myself, and mailed it to my mom and she put it under the tree for Dad's Christmas present from me.  I was so proud and could not wait to hear his reaction to opening it on Christmas day because we could not make it home that Christmas. Mom had the tree up with all the presents under it, including my gift of the router and on December 20, 1978, I received a phone call from my sister in law telling me dad had passed away in his sleep lying on the couch.  He never got to see the router I bought for him.  When we went home for the funeral, we buried him on Christmas eve and I put the router in my suitcase before I went back to the airport to catch my flight back to Florida.  That was 32 years ago.  For years that router sat on a shelf in its box and I could not bear to even look at it.  I also had all his tools in an old Army footlocker that I eventually took home.  I used all the tools but the router.  About 5 years ago I gave the router to my younger brother for him to keep.  I never turned the router on.

Mike

[wwwarbird]

 You will get through it Dave, but you will never forget. It sucks, it's life, but it's all normal because you care. I had just turned 19 and was barely out of high school when I lost my dad suddenly and unexpectedly back in '84. He had just turned 46 and had a cerebral hemorrage, out like a light. Come this June, I'll be older than he was.
 It took awhile, but one of the biggest things that helped me snap out of my "funk" was when I conciously realized that no matter how shi--y I felt, there wasn't a d--m thing I could do about it. I still think about him at times of course, but overall it's with a smile. That's because many of the things I do, including my love of airplanes and especially Warbirds, came from being exposed to them because of his own interests. I could go on and on about many things, as many here could I'm sure, but I won't. Just keep your chin up and do what you do because the smiles, and ambitions, will come back. And if your like me, it will all be stronger than ever.

[Tim Wescott]

We lost my dad a little over a year ago, at age 72.  I went through a similar experience with getting motivated.

I suspect it'll come back, but it'll be hard at first.  When my uncle died I inherited some of his tools; when ever I use those tools -- and now when ever I use skills I learned from my dad -- it's like they're there with me, helping out.

[Paul Wood]

Dave,  My dad's modeling hobby inspired me to not only a lifetime of modeling, but a full career as a professional pilot.  He lived just long enough to see me achieve that goal.  Then he was gone.  Age 56.  I never crank an engine or smell a bit of butyrate that I don't think of him.  He was my hero.  I finally had to "man up" and go to the doctor for anti-depressants.  The Doc was great and the medicine worked.  Don't be afraid to get some help if you need it.  That's what medicine was invented for.  God bless you.  Paul

[Dan McEntee]

  Hi Dave;
    Sorry to hear of your loss. My Dad passed away in 1965 when I was ten years old. It's something that you will get better about, but not get over. Even after 45 years, there is still the yearning and want to talk to him one more time. I think about him all the time and when times are troubled and decisions need to be made, I try to think how he would handle the situation. You'll always have him in your heart, mind and memory, so just go about your business as if he was really there, because if you were that close, he'll always be there.
   Hang in there and keep plugging away, because I'm sure that is what he would like you to do.
   Best Regards,
  Dan McEntee

[Jim Treace]

Hello Dave,
We lost our Dad at age 75 in 1995. I was 49. We had just had a good November Thanksgiving hunt together and he helped me track down a good buck. However, Christmas day he was hit with leukemia and eight days later...gone. He was in excellent health, never smoked and only enjoyed a good glass of wine now and then. He was quite a fellow. WWII Army Air Core (later called the Air Force), B29 pilot, saw action in the Pacific. An accomplished engineer developed and designed many medical devices that benefit millions world wide and are now common place. Not only a father, he was my best buddy. He taught me flying, building, the outdoors, fishing, hunting, you name it. He had worked his way through high school and college (Western Michigan), running a trap line (beaver, mink, etc), in western Michigan.
The loss was terrific. Put me in a funk and for quite some time I couldn't look at pictures. Don't know exactly when, but I did come back from the hurt and loss.
Time does help, but it will come in little pieces. I now have pictures that bring wonderful memories. And his wood shop tools, I use them. Every time I pick up a file or take a scale from his personally made custom wood box, I hold it and it feels good. He is still there and I have the memories.
The funk will pass and will be replaced by good and wonderful memories. Have faith and God bless to you and your family.
Jim

[Dalton Hammett]

Hi Dave

      I am very sorry to hear of your loss,  I can understand you feeling very well and wish there were some right words to say to help but please know that we all are with you and as you can see most have been in the same situation.  It does get better.  In the last six years I lost my father,  mother and younger brother and it is hard to get back to doing things you did with them.  My brother and I did a lot of music togather and it took me over a year and a half to pick up my guitar again.   My dad and I did a lot of shooting and I haven't gone back to that for about four years now.   I likely will again because I have two sons to do it with and I know they will continue to ask me until I do.   Very, very best wishes to you and your family.........

Dalton Hammett

[john e. holliday]

Yes it is hard to lose your Dad.  I was 20 when my Dad left us for eternal life just short of his 70th birthday.  It was May of 62 so he seen the turn of the century.  He was a carpenter and craftsman as he could take a vacant lot and put a house on it from the below ground up.  I was barely old enough when he lost all his tools and his full time job about the same time.  He had to work for the county in the parks department as every one said he was to old.  He tried his best for us kids, my sister and I as well as the three half brothers.  His kids were already out on their own.  He beleived in hard work and I got to help a litlle when he added on to the house we had at the time.  Then the county decided he was ready for retirement when had an accident and was put down for a while.  They had to work on his back.  I would fly my little 1/2A in the back yard where he could watch me.  Once he was back on his feet and the settlement came thru they sold every thing and we moved to the farm.  My Junior and Senior years.  Great time was spent during the plowing, planting and harvesting.  It was when we would be cutting brush or fire wood we would talk.  He never went to church but stated many times there is the one God who took care of us.  It was when we moved to the second farm that I really got to know him a little more.  After a year I go a job in KC and went to work.  I think that is what done him in.  After the funeral my Uncle asked me if I was coming back to work.  Told I had to stay and take care of Mom.   I got a job in town that lasted until fall and then I was out of work again.  No income to pay for the farm so we sold every thing and went back to KC.  He always gave me support for my model airplanes tho.