The Family Vault
Story 4 — Pop, My Gentle Father
I suppose my earliest memories of my father are of him sitting in the den, in his arm chair in the evenings, with me cuddled between his legs, and him gently stroking my chest and belly with his fingertips. Before you get the idea that something was “weird,” it wasn’t. He was a loving father who was not afraid to express his love, and truly cherished all six of his children. I’d cuddle there with him as we watched The Carol Burnette Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, or Rowen and Martin’s Laugh-In.
In some ways, Pop was just a regular guy. Born in the 1920’s to a German-American couple in South Ozone Park in Queens, New York, when it was still a lovely place to live, he grew up playing stick ball with his buddies, exploring the area with his dog, Spotty, and keeping up with his beloved heroes, the Brooklyn Dodgers. A World War II Army veteran, he used the G. I. Bill to attend Hofstra College, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business. He went on to become a very successful market researcher and senior vice president of market research at the infamous Lennon & Newell Advertising Agency, among others. Though his weekdays were taken up by work and the hour-long commute each way on the Long Island Rail Road, he did a great job of making time for all six of us kids on the weekends.
