My Dad

Today marks two years since the passing of my dad, Joseph Clark. Everyone called him Joe or Bud or Moose but I always called him Daddy. He was a good man with a heart of gold. He could be a tough dad, but we all saw through that. And he had the dryest sense of humor and made everyone laugh.

One of the fondest memories I have of him was when we went on vacation in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania in 1977. It was his birthday on the 16th of August and he was in an exceptionally goofy mood. My sister Patty, brother Greg and I were on the vacation and we were sitting on the back porch in the evening. It was cool and quiet to be able to sit there and look out at the woods. As we were sitting there, I saw my dad get up in the house and go towards the front door. For some reason, I knew he was going to go around from the front to the back to try to scare us. I got up and headed inside and Patty followed me. Greg was sitting there when dad came around, raised his hands above his head and growled like a bear. Greg jumped up and ran to the sliding screen door and ran right through it. It was so funny to see Greg do that, but what was more funny was that Daddy couldn't stop laughing as we were sitting around talking about it. He was laughing and laughing and laughing. I don't remember him ever laughing so had. None of us could stop laughing (except for Greg). It was the funniest thing to see him enjoying himself so much (at the expense of Greg, HA).

I love you Daddy and miss you a lot.