Dad’s Pools

/ CynthiaEDay

Because it’s Father’s Day, and because many of the people who worked for my dad called him “Dads”, here’s a post about “Dad at Work”. He had other names, too:

Pool God aka “Golf Man”

These slips of paper were given to him at his Retirement Party. They are a collection of things people said around the office, the job sites, and in the trucks. These are interspersed below with some pics of the pools he built:

This is the pool that my parents finally built for themselves in their back yard. That’s my dad in jeans standing at the rear of the cement truck.

Here it is completed. The shrubbery has since grown and there’s furniture out there now. Dad did the stone work himself.

That’s dad I think on the right in the white cap.

Note from John

I don’t know who John is.

Another view of the pool. Looking toward New Hampshire.

Blurry photo of Dad in his office.

Context free

They had lots of fun at work. My dad was a good boss. He cared about people.

An indoor pool

I can sorta here my dad saying this.

Beautiful:

More of Dad’s stone work

No idea who wrote these

Also beautiful:

Looks like a pond but it’s not

Throwback:

This was one of Dad’s best friends who passed away quite young. He had worked for my dad for years. I think his real name was John.

A bright one

Here’s a scene that may have happened once or often

Another indoor pool

This was at the beginning of the notepad

Must have been sung

Nice

From Gary, who Dad taught how to service pools. Gary still services the pool at my parents’ house.

More stonework

????

Denise, Chris and Art’s daughter
From Chris
Again, no context
Not tobacco
No idea
Keith
Ooooookay
Keeping it classy

Finally:

There was one I left out because it had a homophobic slur. Correctness was not one of the strengths of the workplace.

I think Dad retired 20 years ago. I remember the party they threw him. He was glad to retire but I think a little sad to say goodbye. He visited with people around town though. Several were at the service when he died. As were people from back in his previous business back in the seventies, Eleazars. It was a Rock n Roll palace, bringing up a generation of future rehab attendees. Again, lots of fun! People loved working for him. But he was happy to sell that place, too. He played golf for years after retirement but then had heart problems and type two diabetes and eventually had to stop playing golf all together because his feet would get blisters and wouldn’t heal. He also had COPD and hypertension. But he was never bedbound or in a nursing home or old folks home, something he would have hated. He wanted to go out super fast and Covid seemed to do the trick. Covid triggered the heart attack and then the stroke. He was breathing fine during the whole ordeal and only spent a day or two in the ICU.

Well this has been my first Father’s Day without having a Dad. I think about him constantly. Everyday. I miss him terribly but have lots of memories to cherish. Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

Swimming. In a lake. He hated pools.

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