(the eponymous canyon, Palo Duro, also known as the grand canyon of Texas, Photo courtesy Destination360 - pretty, but not sure it’s for me either)
He worked more jobs than you can imagine (my favorite remains a summer gig as a hotel nightman), he met my mom in college and they married almost immediately. He served years in the Army, he pulled up the family and moved to India to watch the land react to the green revolution in real time, and in that moment, saw the future of development and the coming crisis of sustainability. We live in a very green place now in East Tennessee, something I think reflects all the way back to those dry places for him.
I am unbelievably, joyously lucky to have grown up with him. He fed me books that I wasn’t supposed to read - Dune in 4th grade stands out - and taught me how to think, how to structure my thoughts, how to find liminal spaces and how to work inside them. I owe much of my career to those skills, and thus, to him. He taught me - he keeps teaching me - every day.
My son calls him Pop, my wife calls him Tom, and my mom calls him “hey you.” But to me and my sisters, he’s just Dad.
And Dad? Congratulations. You’ve earned it. We are so proud of you that it hurts.