Willie Moore

December 1, 1953

We got in Sunday night about 01:15.  We had to wait about an hour in Regensburg.  The RTO was closed and the German waiting room had no place to sit down, so we went across the street to a restaurant.  There was a grand orchestra there.

Yesterday afternoon we got a ride to Munchen with Ickie 6.  We got the validation for Egypt, etc. on our passports.  Then we went to the Tour Agency and turned everything in.

Last night about 11 o’clock Willie Moore (so this is actually the first mention of Daddy.  I wish we knew how they really met.) and I decided to fix us some hamburgers since the sandwich woman was gone.  We couldn’t find any so we scrambled eggs, etc.  It was pretty good.  That’s the 1^st time I have done that since leaving home.

This afternoon we took all of the children in to see Hansel and Gretel.  A German girl’s school – Catholic – put it on in English and invited us.  It was precious.  It was a scream when they tried to use our slang expressions.  They had very elaborate costumes and settings.  We thoroughly enjoyed it!

It's interesting that Mother never discussed in her diary how she met Daddy or anything about him really.  As you'll discover, she is very matter of fact about her relationship with him and doesn't really romanticize it at all.  They did travel together later, but not alone.  And there are some pictures of the two of them together, but you'd be hardpressed to know that this was a special guy to her.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised.  Mother was always pretty matter of fact about their relationship.  She clearly loved him and the feeling was mutual.  She thought he was the greatest person ever and she certainly put him up on a pedestal for us.  I can remember making a comment once that Daddy always had an answer for everything and that he always acted like he knew everything and she said "well, he does!"  And I think she believed that.

So today, on Father's Day, I'll take a little break from writing about my mother to talk about Daddy.  He's been gone for 22 years.  Hard to believe it's been that long.  He was an amazing father.  Back when the stereotype for most fathers was that they went to work all day, came home and just vegged out in front of the TV, that wasn't the reality of my father.  He did work all day and when he came home he would often sit in the den and read, but he also paid attention to my brothers and me.  He talked to us and listened to us and made time for us.

I remember that on Saturdays Daddy would make us all sandwiches.  He would get out all the sandwich fixin's and would make us whatever we liked.  He often, on the weekends, would make chili for dinner or waffles or biscuits for breakfast.  He was an engaged dad, spending time with us doing things we liked.

I have frequently said that Daddy was the perfect father for a daughter.  He treated me as though I were the greatest thing ever.  He was firm but fair with me, but he also let me know that he thought I was terrific, even when I really wasn't.  My mother told me once that before I was born, Daddy said he hoped I was a girl.  He thought the first child should be a girl, so I'm sure he was thrilled when he got his wish.

He was always there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on or needed a hug.  I remember when I was in Girl Scouts one year, I desperately wanted to be the Secretary.  I'm not sure anymore why that was so important, but it was.  The way the "officers" were chosen was that you picked a piece of paper out of a Girl Scout beanie and if you got something with writing on it, that's what you were. I do know that I wanted to keep the minutes (I guess I've always loved writing!), but when I pulled out the paper, it said "Treasurer".  I was heartbroken.  Daddy tried to tell me how important a Treasurer was, but I was having none of it.  So I went to bed that night and woke up crying about it.  He got me up and took me into the den and told me a story about a bad dream he'd had as a boy, where he woke up saying "but I don't want to be a reindeer!"  It sort of made me chuckle, although I didn't want it to because I wanted to stay sad.  But that was typical Daddy - trying to help you feel better.

I remember going to see him once at his job.  I was working then too - this was after college - and he was working at the BellSouth building in midtown Atlanta.  I went to visit at lunchtime and he first showed me his office, which was actually a cubicle, with an unfortunate view of the Georgia Tech football stadium.  I told him he should ask to be moved, but he said he was afraid if he did that he wouldn't have a window anymore and the window made the cubicle tolerable.  But when he took me around to introduce me to his coworkers, it was apparent to me how much they admired Daddy and that made me feel good.  At his funeral, I remember turning around and seeing that the church was full.  Full of all the people he had worked with that had liked and respected him.  I was so touched and I knew he would have been too.

Daddy was the one that suggested I get into HR.  He had majored in Personnel in college and spent a couple years doing that at BellSouth, although most of his career he was a Training Manager and course developer.  But he thought that would be an ideal career for me and, for many years, I agreed with him.  He was also my career counselor, helping me prepare for interviews and reviewing my resume and giving career advice.  I got laid off from my job at a commercial printer the Friday before he died and I never got to talk to him about that and get his good advice.

There were certainly times when I didn't think Daddy was so fabulous.  I think my junior high school days were the time when I was the most rebellious and fought against him the most.  By the time high school rolled around, that had ended.  Daddy always believed in me and believed I could do anything.  He was always encouraging and supportive.  After he was gone, I felt like my anchor was gone, that my life was kind of adrift.

The day my father died, I wasn't expecting it.  In hindsight, maybe I should have.  He had been diagnosed with lung cancer, which I later learned had a small long-term survival rate.  But I didn't know that then and so I wasn't ready.  Not that you ever are, but I truly wasn't ready for him to be gone from my life.  My brother Paul called the house that morning with the worst news I've ever had in my entire life.  I was distraught.  I remember going upstairs to take a shower so that we could drive over to my mother's and my then-husband asking me if I was ok.  I thought "I'll never be ok again" and I really didn't think I would.

Time goes on and yes, eventually you learn to live with the inevitable.  But I still cry sometimes when I think about Daddy.  And I still miss him.  Every.single.day.  I always will.  I remember the day he died, when my aunts got to the house, one of them said "oh, at least he got to walk you down the aisle on your wedding day!"  And he did.  The thing about that was, when I got engaged I had initially thought I'd get married the middle of October.  But when it came time to set the date, I actually set it for late September, prompting questions from those who thought it would be later.  I couldn't tell you then why I felt so strongly that I had to pick that date, but had I picked the middle of October, he would have been in the hospital.  So it was a gift that he was there with me.

My brothers and I talk about Daddy a lot.  When Mother was alive, we all did.  And we always talk about the fun times and laugh a lot about the Daddy stories.  We were very fortunate to have had such a great dad.  I think we are all who we are today in large part because Willie Moore was our father.  He was simply the best.

I love you, Daddy.  I miss you.  I'll never forget you.