My dad's birthday

It is January 23rd, what would have been my dad's 96th birthday. WHEW! That would have been a lot of years had his life not been cut short at the age of 62. Along with 2 of my 3 siblings, I have passed that age and think that despite crazy chronic problems we all have, we may just follow in our mother's footsteps. She lived to be 89.
Dad had a history of 'rheumatism' , or at least that's what he said, and was likely so, as he had a mitral commisurotomy when he was in his 50s. He got through that without remembering the bad times, and when he got to that point where he felt better, he told others it was a 'piece of cake'.. I don't think so.

My dad was an inventor. His last thing he worked on was a car battery run chain saw sharpener. I really must get the info again on the item he worked on for the automobile ignition that he missed the boat for his patent by a matter of days. It revolutionized the ignition of cars.
My dad was brilliant. Sorry I didn't inherit that part of his brain, though I do see certain things in his life that I reflect- like being a chocoholic.. oh yeah. Addicted for life.
(note to self: need to buy a LOT of Hershey bars before price goes to $30/bar)
Both of my parents loved to play games. They both did crossword puzzles and had a book to help them with difficult words. yeah... they did the really hard ones in the newspaper and could actually finish them.
I like word games a lot- I have several books to prevent alzheimers from setting in any time soon. I make myself do these puzzles, or I go to the computer and do 'search and find' puzzles because it makes me use my brain.
I remember that we were the only kids in the neighborhood who actually owned a horse and rode all over the place. ( to self: I'm also the only kid in the neighborhood to get thrown off a horse into a locust tree.. ouch!)
Fun summers.. my dad knew how to have fun! Stilts.. now, let's see a show of hands here: how many of you have ever had your father make you a pair of stilts, and actually walk with them?
I never mastered those stilts, but my dad could walk with them..
One day he made us a ring toss game with a piece of plywood and nails. He put scores under each nail and gave us a handfull of canning jar rubber ring seals to toss. We all got in on that game and it lasted forever.!
And while I'm thinking about this, I also remember a golf game he made for us.. He took old tuna cans, dug a hole to situate them level with the ground.. then whittled a "ball" from a branch from a tree. Now, this wasn't a round ball, it had points on either side.. Then he made us clubs out of tree branches and we were off. Lots of exercise running after our 'ball' all over the field.
I could probably go on and on and on.. Maybe Jane or Bill or someone else might want to post what they remember about dad?
He was the only person I knew that was actually struck by lightning and survived, though burned.
If he were living today, I'd say.. "Happy birthday, Dad.. we had some great years"