Maybe its the weather but...

[68Roundie]

The clouds are hanging a bit low and it got dark sooner than I'm used to (thanks day light saving time), In times like this I remember my dad who passed away in 94'. He was a really good BMW technician for BMW of Santa Monica and Zipper BMW before it was called BMW of Beverly Hills. It was his dream job and he loved working on these cars. all the years since, and now its been officially longer without him than with him I think about all the wasted opportunities I had to bond with him. He worked on cars all the time as a hobby and as a teenager I couldn't be bothered to help him and I really hate myself for that. Years later I saw he wasn't trying to screw my weekend up he was trying to show me something useful and maybe a skill i could make a living off of and I can't believe i rejected that. He died of liver cancer in 1994 and he didn't drink more than anyone else I've ever known, maybe a beer at dinner and a few on the weekend and some think it might have been all the solvents and chemicals that he worked with before rubber gloves were standard procedure. I don't know about that but just for safety's sake always wear gloves peeps. Some years later my brother followed him into the trade and now he's a very successful tech at the same BMW dealership my dad worked at and I'm very proud of him. Here is a pic of my dad around 93'. I miss you so much dad. I'm sorry i was such a brat. (he's on the right)

[ray_]

Hindsight is 20:20 isn't it? :-)

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Ray

[gwb72tii]

nice!

there's an old saying that goes something like this

i can't believe how dumb my parents were when i was 18

and i can't believe how smart they'd become by the time i was 30

sounds like your dad did all right by you

[68Roundie]

thanks guys. you're right about that hindsight! whoo,,damn its crystal clear. In some way I feel like i got this 02' that needed some work so that I could learn the ropes from the ground up. I feel in some way that I could make it up to him like that.

[jmon0261]

Good post- I have been thinking about my father lately.

Working on BMWs sounds like a good way to get close to your brother.

[BlindRhino]

Great post!

Just the reason I find ways to ask my 13 year old for "help" working on the car, and thankful that when my 20 year old moved out he wrote me a letter saying thanks for all I have taught him.

See all the things that cars do for us!

Russ