After the memorial service, close friends and family returned to my parent’s home where the celebration of my father’s life continued. I took advantage of the gathering of distant relatives and did the best I could under the circumstances to create a family portrait.

I learned two things about my father that I did not know prior to the memorial. First, he had earned a sharpshooter distinction during his military service (something he rarely talked about) as noted on his honorable discharge paperwork. Second, as hard as he worked for and as proud as he was of earning his PhD, the occasion was never really acknowledged or celebrated by his family. Learning this made me very sad and helped me more fully appreciate just how far my father had come from his humble beginnings.

As soon as dinner was finished the party moved to, where else, the dance studio of a local community center where my parents were a weekly fixture. My dad would have approved.