Taking the Dad You're Dealt

MY FATHER qould now be one hundred four and a half years old, amazingly, He died at sixty eight, which I nearly am now, when I was thirty one. Hard to believe its been so long. He chain smoked and drank for years, so I was fortuante to have him as long as I did, and since I do neither of these things, and I stay in shape with a lot of exercise, I think I have a chance to live longer than he. At least I hope so. I always admired and respected him, and still think of him as one of my heroes, despite his flaws. He was in the navy during World War Two, and pursued a career in law. Maybe I should write a book about him. A lady who lives near me and is close in age to me (I'm 67) wrote and self published a book about her father titled "Catch Me Or Kill Me: The Saga of Charles Parrot, One of America's Best Bank Robbers". I attended a lecture and book signing by her, and was greatly rewarded. I intend to beg or borrow a copy of the book, and either skim through it or read it thoroughly. The author, Susan Parrot, is the daughter of rather notorious bank robber Charles Parrot. Charles Parrot was notorious becuase he was something of a Robin Hood, who became known in his part of the country as someone who was extremely nice, pleasant, and generous with his help for poor people, ill gotten help that it might often have been. Parrot was able to flourish like a normal citizen for years, because the people in the town in which he lived all helped protect him from capture and prosecution. Although the law eventually caught u p with him, and he died at the relatively young age of sixty three, his career as a bank robber was highly successful and filled with true stories and adventures which make for highly entertaining reading, as Susan Parrot has thoroughly done the research, and has become an expert on her father's criminal career. She isn't proud of it, but her ability to approach the situation from the perspective of a historian and to contribute to modern American history has helped alleviate the shame. My father once told me that he robbed a bank, but at the time he and Iwere both rather drunk. Its possible, but like I told Susan Parrot, "I'm almost jealous of you because my daddy wasn't a bank robber, your history is so interesting. I almost wish he had been." "No you don't", was her only response, but she seemed to really mean it.