Posts Tagged ‘fathers and sons’
Man Learns About Dad’s Past Via Nazi Banner
This is a heavy news story.
Imagine getting a big Nazi banner in the mail and then realizing it has something to do with your Dad. (Actually, if it didn’t have anything to do with your Dad, that would be even more messed up.)
From Wauwatosa Now:
Wauwatosa — Robert Griffin was overcome with a wave of memories as he read a letter from a distant stranger — a letter that, at least in part, filled in some of the blanks of his father’s wartime experiences.
The letter was sent by Gigi Hickey, who uncovered a 12-foot-long, crumpled Nazi banner emblazoned with a black swastika — and complete with 84 American soldiers’ signatures — while cleaning out her deceased mother’s North Dakota home about two years ago. The banner was stuffed inside a howitzer canister and hidden in a trunk, a painful piece of history that Hickey thinks her mother, Georgia Henrichsen, wanted to stow away and forget.
Other than the specifics, this is the main bit:
Robert Griffin was overcome with a wave of memories as he read a letter from a distant stranger — a letter that, at least in part, filled in some of the blanks of his father’s wartime experiences.
I’m in the process of piecing together some of my own father’s past. There’s a lot I don’t know, and a lot that I’ve accepted I will never know. For me, this article is somewhat validating, since it shows that I’m far from the only son who wants to find out about his Dad. I can’t say that I’m expecting any artifact as dramatic and jarring as the one this man received. That said, it sounds like it was illuminating, which is a good thing.
Source: Through Nazi banner, Wauwatosa man learns of father’s experiences at war
Related articles (Note: Some of these are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Father-Son Coach Team at Baylor
We’ve written about father and son quarterbacks, now we have fathers and sons coaching college football at Baylor.
English: An American football game between the 1952 Houston Cougars and the Baylor Bears at Rice Stadium in Houston. Pictured are Houston’s M. “Buddy” Gillioz (#77), J.D. Kimmel (#78), and Roland Johnson (#80), and Baylor’s “Cotton” Davidson (#19). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(The above photo is old, but it does have the Baylor Bears in it. Public Domain for the win.)
“There’s obviously added pressure there,” said Kendal Briles, who will also be quarterbacks coach in his eighth season working for his father.
Pressure? Gee, ya think? NFL football is high stakes, but I think college football can be even more intense. Although whatever they do, it’s unlikely the Briles will screw up as royally as Shanahan and Son did in Washington.
Source: Baylor Coach Makes Father-Son Bet – NYTimes.com
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Denis Leary And Son, 1st World Series Game
Here is a tweet from comedian, actor, writer and father Denis Leary:
Game Six. Go Sox. Me and my son – 1st WS game together. pic.twitter.com/3nQ2zyM78h
— Denis Leary (@denisleary) October 30, 2013
No matter who you’re rooting for, even if you don’t care about the World Series and/or baseball in general, this is something that almost any father can relate to. I know I have memories of going to special events with my kids, some of them sports related. This tweet definitely resonated with me.
For a lifelong Red Sox fan like Mr. Leary, this is a long time coming. Even though the Sawx reversed the curse in 2004, they haven’t won the World Series at home since 1918. (Read more about this at MassLive.com if you want.) If the Red Sox win tonight, the fans at Fenway Park are going to go nuts. Leary being able to share that with his son is a cool thing.
Lee Daniels’ The Butler Is A “Father And Son Story” (DaddyTube) – UPDATED
In this video about the new movie The Butler, Lee Daniels says that he wanted to make the film because it’s “a father [and] son story, a love story between a father and his son”. The father is Forest Whitaker, the titular butler, and his son apparently gets involved in the civil rights movement. I did not know this. Now I do.
In general, the video makes a much better case for the film than the trailer. By that I mean I’m more interested in seeing it, in part because it’s about fathers and sons, and also because it seems to be about more than what was in the trailer. Not to pile on the trailer. I just think these interviews make the movie seem a lot more interesting.
Link below in case the embed doesn’t work.
Lee Daniels’ The Butler 2013 – Movie Trailers – Fandango.com.
UPDATE: Not of the “breaking news” variety, but I wanted to mention that the interviews were done by Brad Barton, and that he posted a longer version of his interview with Oprah Winfrey. See below.
James Holmes’ Father Goes To Colorado, and Reflections on TV News, TMZ, and Kids Doing Journalism
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwqFgnl4rMs]
James Holmes, the man accused of shooting dozens of people at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises, will get a visit from his father.
From where did I get this news? TMZ.
Yes, that TMZ. Weird Al did a song parody of Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’ called ‘TMZ’ on his recent album Alpocalypse. Whenever I hear “TMZ”, I think of that song. (This is why there’s a Weird Al video at the top of this post.) I certainly don’t think “trenchant news reporting”. So I was surprised to find that this particular TMZ broadcast did a nice job of reporting on the Colorado shooting.
Here are some of my thoughts about the awful event in Colorado, how it was covered in the media, and kids practicing the ancient art of journalism from their bedrooms. Read more »
Saints Sign Al Toon’s Son Nick Toon
Yes, former New York Jets receiver Al Toon named his son Nick Toon. Nick is a rookie receiver who was drafted by the New Orleans Saints. They just agreed on a contract.
Mostly I’m posting this news because the name Nick Toon made me chuckle. To be fair to Al, who my kids are aware of thanks to a game of Jets Monopoly we have in our house, I don’t think Nicktoons was a thing back when Nick Toon was born in 1988. So it’s not as bad as, say, naming your kid Roc when your last name is Singer. Which I never, ever considered doing.
(Aside: I’m more of a Giants fan, but I don’t hate the Jets. I do, however, want to point out that Jets Monopoly was a gift.)
See also: Father and Son Quarterbacks
Son Accused Of Kidnapping Father With Machete
Next time you think your kids don’t give you enough respect, consider this tale of parental woe.
Here’s the opening paragraph of a story from the Alabama Press-Register:
DAPHNE, Alabama — Daphne police have arrested a Fairhope man on five charges including kidnapping and robbery after he allegedly used a machete to force his adoptive father to drive him to a local bank to withdraw money from his father’s bank account.
But wait. It gets better/worse. According to the extremely well-told story on AL.com, the dad kicked his allegedly wack-a-doodle son out of the car, locked the doors, which led to the kid (who is 19, so not really a kid) breaking one of the car windows. So the dad gets out of the car and his son chases him “around the bank parking lot with the machete”.
Here’s a great sentence: “Employees inside the bank noticed what was happening and called the police.” Well I would hope they noticed what was happening! Guy running around with a machete? One would imagine that doesn’t happen every day.
The son has a cross carved in his head, and the police spokesperson told the Register that “We cannot comment on the suspect’s mental health, or provide the reason he is being held without bond.” That’s OK. I think we can figure out that he’s not 100% compos mentis, if you know what I’m saying.
All kidding aside, it’s a terrible story, though a very well-written one; read the full account by Russ Henderson at AL.com. Hopefully everyone will end up all right, or as all right as they can given the circumstances. I mean, wow. And I thought Ron Reagan Jr. telling people his dad had Alzheimer’s while President was kinda mean. At least there were no weapons involved.
Fairhope man accused of using machete to kidnap father | al.com.
