How and Why

The idea for this blog was sort of a collective thought that happened in April of this year when my sister Krista and I joined our cousin Martha, who is the executor of my fathers will, in Huntington, Oregon to begin the process of going through Dad's things.

Anyone who knew Dad, even a little, knew he had A LOT of belongings. He was a life long collector of anything and everything. As several of his friends have said, he saw value in everything. Long ago I nicknamed my father a "hobbyist" since he wasn't just a rock, jar, stamp, shot glass, etc collector, these weren't just hobbies...the collecting itself was the hobby. When he took an interest in something he did so 110%, learning the history, and the hows and whys of the item(s). He was extremely sentimental, keeping what appears to be almost all correspondence from friends, wives/lovers and also his children. There is boxes full of kids art as well as various little models and our various early craftsmanships. He also had a great sense of irony (or maybe insanity) which was found in some of the odder odds and ends that we discovered.

Going through Dad's things was frustrating (boxes and BOXES of 30 year old newspapers), emotional (finding the lei Dad was given by the army officers at his son (my brother) Eric's funeral), mind racking (a huge bag full of cracked walnut shells), touching (he had kept his fathers old hard hat) and also hilarious (a giant whisk). We started taking pictures of some of the more memorable items to share with friends and family and the idea of a blog came from those initial pictures.

There are so many stories I have of my father, and so many that friends and love ones have started to share with me, that I decided to start this blog and at least share my stories with the hopes of others contributing as well. For me this is a way to keep the spirit of my father alive and share the joy and humor it was to know him.

Much love,

Ona