ok, so here are 5 things that i really admire about my dad- Herbert Wayne Crown:

- he expected not only that i would graduate from college, but also that i would earn a graduate degree, just like he did. i have a picture- taken with my little instamatic- of his master's degree ceremony at osu- as well as a picture of me wearing his mortarboard.it wore a red checked dress with a red flounce at the bottom- bad choice- but i was only 8 or 9 at most at the time......he was so proud of my master's degree. there is something to be said for high expectations. sometimes children actually live up to them......he never really knew that i took a major life risk in quitting my miserable job and starting a restaurant- i hope he would have applauded the gumption it took.......

- he believed that there is no finer endeavor than travel. he reached ' all the 50 states and 14 foreign countries' - quite a mark to match. i can recall my grandmother crown (who never learned to drive)-on the occassion of a visit after a major trip- asking my dad if he was done with traveling. he told her that that there was a whole lot more to see and that he wouldn;'t stop until he saw it......not bad for a farm boy from ohio.

- he believed that every road should be 'gone down' once. he really liked the challenge of travel by instinct- he would take maps- but he also enjoyed going down roads just to see where they let out......i rarely saw him get lost. i would like to say that i inherited his sense of direction- but lightening would strike.............

-he valued the written word. i fondly recall him sitting in 'his chair' doing the crossword puzzle- in pen- with no mistakes. he also played a mean game of scrabble......

-he believed totally in recycling- both organic and nonorganic matter. his compost pile was enviable...... he also donated gallons of blood in his lifetime- the ultimate in recycling, i believe........

i can forgive him his conservative politics, i suppose.......with those 5 attributes in his plus column...........i would like to think that i could deliver a eulogy- but i am not sure that i could manage it- without choking up-