Happy Father’s Day 2020
I want to wish everyone a Happy Father’s day today and hope you are able to make some great memories with your family. Since it’s Father’s Day, I think we need to start with some Dad Jokes.
What do you call a pencil with two erasers? Pointless.
Can February March? No, but April May.
What do you call a potato with glasses? A Spec-tater.
What did Delaware to the party? Her New Jersey.
How do you weigh a millennial? In Instagram’s. Okay, that’s enough.
On this day I want to pay tribute to my dad Max Wilker. For anyone who doesn’t already know, my dad was a sailor in the U.S. navy in World War II. He was stationed on the USS Houston that went down in the Pacific Ocean in the Battle of Sunda Strait. The USS Houston and the HMAS Perth were heading to get more supplies when they were surrounded by a Japanese destroyer and multiple Japanese warships. Both ships took out several of the Japanese ships before they were hit with torpedoes. It was said that both ships went down with “Guns a blazing!” Of the 1,061 sailors, my dad was one of the 368 that survived the attack. They were in the water for over ten and a half hours before they reached the shore. They were immediately captured by the Japanese army and were held as prisoners of war for over three and a half years. They were forced to work on a railroad in the Burmese jungle and their source of nourishment was a bowl of rice a day. My dad was over 6 feet tall, and when he returned home, he weighed 98 pounds.
I remember growing up, there were times I thought my life was so unfair. After football practice my friends would get to go ride dirt bikes and I would have to go move irrigation pipe and stack hay. After basketball practice, my friends would go riding snow machines and I would have to go home and feed cows. But all I would have to do is think about what three and a half years of being a prisoner of war would be like and suddenly my life didn’t seem that bad after all. I still use that today to help me appreciate what I have.
My Dad taught me many valuable life lessons. He demonstrated to me the value of hard work. He taught me the worth of character and honesty. He instilled in me the significance of standing up for what you believe in. Most of all, he gave me the best motivational advice for success. Right after I graduated from high school, I got a summer job at Utah Power & Light. I remember talking to him about my manager and telling him what a jerk he was. I will never forget his advice as long as I live. “The best way you get over on a (several expletives) creep like that is to go out and make something of yourself. Then you can come back and shove it in his (several more expletives) face!”
I would just like to let Justin and Ryan know how grateful I am to be their Dad, and Brittney, Cassidy, and Jayci how grateful I am to be their Grandpa/Great Grandpa. I could not ask for a better family and I am so proud of all of you. Happy Father’s Day to everyone and thanks for reading.
Next week: New ideas and direction.
P.S. I have given the same motivational advice my dad gave me to my sons and granddaughters. I even left out the expletives. Okay, some of the time I left out the expletives.