Category Archives: Fathers

Father’s influence

All About that Bass

Posted on May 25, 2015 by ivanbenson

Meghan Trainor rapped, “It’s all about that bass,” and gave birth to a phrase that swept the world in 2014. And a flexing, bandana wearing Rosie the Riveter, along with the phrase, “We Can Do It,” created nationwide support for … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized, World War II | Tagged "We Can Do It", 1940s, 1942, 2009, 2014, 2015, All About That Bass, April 9, B17, B24, basso profundo, Burma, Ezio Pinza, fly the friendly skies, India, May 25, Meghan Trainor, Memorial Day, Norden bombsight, October Sky, pectin, Rosie the Riveter, singer, slogans, Tucson, William Tecumseh Sherman, you can't stop a trane | 6 Comments

Ashes, 2 Ashes

Posted on September 2, 2014 by ivanbenson

It happened while I was watching a favorite TV series the other night. A young man was given his estranged father’s ashes to scatter as a memorial to him. He chose Eagle Lake, a special place in Alberta where his … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Alberta, ashes, casualness, cremation, devotion, Eagle Lake, Gettysburg, Heartland, honor, human remains, interment, life is sacred, reverence, sacred ground, sacredness, Tucson Arizona, urn, urn vault, valued | 7 Comments

The Corvette Stingray: A Love Story

Posted on March 9, 2014 by ivanbenson

It’s hard to tell where my taste for certain foods originated; why grilled hamburgers are so absolutely wonderful, why ice cream cries out to be enjoyed by the bowl full, why good coffee sometimes just hits the spot. But my … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1/32 scale model, 1951 Plymouth, 1960s, 1963 Plymouth Fury, 1976 Volkswagon Rabbit, 1983 Pontiac Bonneville, 1988 Chevy Celebrity wagon, 1995 Chevy Lumina, 2000 Chevy Metro, 2000 Dodge Caravan, 2001 Chevy Metro, 2004 Toyota Corolla, 2013, 60th anniversary, Arizona, Austria, Beethoven, cars, concentration camp, Corvette Stingray, Daylight Saving, December 1974, German, Haydn, ink stamp, June 1953, Linz, Mauthausen, Mozart, November 1953, Salzburg, Sound of Music, symbiotic, Vienna | 12 Comments

Not Until You Say “Uncle”

Posted on February 25, 2014 by ivanbenson

It was just a phrase that children used to say in a wrestling match when one child would get the upper hand; the beaten child would have to say “uncle” in order to be released from the debilitating grasp of … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Assisted Living, Family History, Fathers, Nursing Homes, Stories, Uncategorized, World War II | Tagged 1950s, 1960s, 86, 92, acceptance, acquiescence, Alzheimer's, beside myself, British joke, character, concession, death, devastation, dilemma, dingy, disappointments, dreams, failures, faith, gloomy, grieving, higher power, loss, men of faith, RCA, say uncle, soap operas, submission, submit, surrender, The Lost Story, Uncle, undone, vanquished, without hope, wreckage, wrestling match | 10 Comments

Do You Own Your Story?

Posted on February 16, 2014 by ivanbenson

When I was a little boy growing up in East Tennessee in the 1950s I never recall wanting to be someone else. But as years went by I began to notice things about other people, e.g. their possessions, their appearance, … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1950s, blockbuster movie, boredom, Brook Park Ohio, career, changing the past, Chick-fil-A, disappointment, disaster, East Tennessee, elation, failure, fantasy, Ford Motor Company, Frodo, Hollywood, Irving Stone, Landon Saunders, life orchestration, loss, love, near-disaster, Norse, qualify, saga, Samwise, The Lord of the Rings, time travel, Tolkien, triumph, your journey, your story | 5 Comments

Saving Mr. Banks (Authentic Identification)

Posted on December 30, 2013 by ivanbenson

In the late afternoon of March 28, 2009 I was traveling down a rainy street in my 2000 Chevy Metro when a young girl armed with a learner’s permit turned in front of me, causing me to hit her just … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1899, 1950s, 1960s, 1964, 1976, 1986, 2000, Adagio for Strings, Argonne Road, baby boomer, Chevy Metro, Clair de Lune, community, daisies, Danny Boy, Disney, dormant seeds, enrapturing, exhilarating, Finland, Finlandia, Five Forks Trickum Road, force majeure, God Bless America, heartstrings, Helen Goff, Hey Jude, intimate communion, irresistible, Irving Berlin, Jean Sibelius, Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins, Mrs. Travers, newly mown grass, nudge, platoon, Portsmouth Ohio, prompt, rubric, Russian, Samuel Barber, Saving Mr. Banks, schema, September 11 2001, The Beatles, time machine, time travel, Tom Smith Road, touch, Tucson Arizona, University of Arizona, Vietnam War, Walt Disney, your story | 12 Comments

60 Years . . . and Counting

Posted on November 12, 2013 by ivanbenson

All right, all right! Some people are impressed that today’s numerical date (not in Europe, since they do it backwards) is 11/12/13. I think that’s pretty cool. But it’s especially cool because today is also my 60th birthday! That’s right! … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 11/12/13, 60, birthday, Buddy Hoffman, deny, Dylan Thomas, failure, incubator, Landon Saunders, natural, perfection, preemie, premature, success, The Heart of the Fighter, transformation, unhealthy | 14 Comments

Living Life in H0 Gauge

Posted on October 15, 2013 by ivanbenson

I just couldn’t help myself today. I had taken my 2 1/2 year old grandson to “the train store” (although his pronunciation of that phrase sounds a bit different from what you just sounded out in your head), and while … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1920s, 1950s, chattanooga, depiction, diminutive, electric trains, Germany, HO guage, mothballed, mystique, O guage, postwar, Southern Railway, steward, toy trains | 8 Comments

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Posted on August 20, 2013 by ivanbenson

There’s nothing like a great story, is there? A great story can lift your spirits when you’re feeling down; it can take you on adventures that are both enthralling and enthusing; it can transport not only your mind, but also … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Assisted Living, Family History, Fathers, Nursing Homes, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 15 years old, 1939, C.S. Lewis, communication, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, Elton John, flying monkeys, Follow the yellow brick road, Holland Michigan, Horace Greeley, http://whitestonemp.com/film/heartless-the-story-of-the-tin-man/, Judy Garland, Keeshond, L. Frank Baum, metaphysical, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, nemesis, Peekskill New York, ruby slippers, Scarecrow, Smithsonian, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, story, The Emerald City, The Wizard of Oz, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Tin Man, Toto, Whitestone, Yellow Brick House, Yellow Brick Road | 10 Comments

Night Riding (The Way Things Used to Be)

Posted on June 12, 2013 by ivanbenson

Childhood memories are almost indelible, aren’t they? I can remember lying in the floorboard of our black 1951 Plymouth, sleeping cozily on the left side of the hump that ran thru to the backseats; the hum of the engine and … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized, World War II | Tagged 1 Corinthians 13, 1951, 1963, air conditioning, Alseep in the Deep, Bible, box fan, chattanooga, church hymns, cottonfields back home, Drink to me only with thine eyes, Edgar Allan Poe, Ezio Pinza, Father's Day, ice plant, magical, Norden Bomb Site, Plymouth, Plymouth Fury, push button automatic, razor strop, sacred, The Raven, Tucson, Wing Tee Wee | 18 Comments

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