Happy Father's Day!

These are our dads! Don Taylor and Mel Glover. These are the guys who stood strong and tall AND taught us as best they could all about life and how to get through it with as much grace and dignity as possible. These two men are, in our opinions, amazing fellas. We are lucky. We have had great role models as fathers. Paul and I are very lucky.

My dad went to war at 18. He fought in WW II in Burma, India. Can you imagine going to India from Virginia in 1942? He said it took 3 months to get there ... good Lord! He came back (thank GOD) to his high school sweetheart, my mom. They got married and the rest is obvious. Dad moved us all over America as he pursued his career in Management for Mechanical Contracting Firms, the largest ones in the nation. He traveled constantly and was always being transferred to the bigger jobs. In fact, he refused to get on an airplane again after he retired! He amazingly enough found time to raise a family and engage in the family unit enough so that we have real memories of having a dad. He also cared for my mom after she had a massive stroke and was her primary care taker until she passed away. The industry to which he gave most of his life eventually took his life as he died of asbestos poisoning of the lungs, which he contracted while managing all those waste treatment facilities back in the 70s and 80s. Of course, I miss him greatly and there is not a day that goes by in which I do not think of him, or hear him say something to me that I really need to hear. He was a great man, a fun loving and gracious man, and a heck of a guy.

Paul's dad was born and raised in Blackpool, England. He and B fell in love, married and had a family, mostly raising them in Oldham, England. (WWII did major damage to England and people were moved away from the cities to be protected from all the bombing. There was a lot of family being "farmed out" to relatives who lived in "safer" places and people got displaced and replaced regularly. Mel and B were not exempt to all that in their childhoods) Mel moved the family (4 children) to the States when Paul was 19 with the intention of buying a dive shop in the Keyes. Mel and B got their United States Citizenship a few years back! Mel has been an excellent role model for determination and having a dream and realizing it, no matter what it takes. He has an ornamental iron business and has been self employed for years now in Orlando. Talk about a man with a dream!

So, thanks dads! And Mel, Happy Father's Day to you! Hope your day is a marvelous one!

Much love to all you dads! Paul & Cheri