Happy Fathers Day

I was born to Wayne and Virginia Burris in 1956. My dad was fresh out of college from what I understand and my mom was fresh out of a bad divorce...well, she married a Navy man & he cleaned her out of all their new wedding gifts & dumped her and disappeared never to be seen or heard from again.

My mom and dad had 4 children (unless you read my dads obituary last year which never mentioned any of us, so it would appear he only had 2 instead of 6), my brother & 2 sisters. I do not feel the need to list their names here without speaking to them first.

We lived along the east coast (New York, Jersey, Long Island, Rhode Island, Florida & Delaware). We landed in Monticello, New York where my dad ran a Harness Horse training track & then one day, we were loaded into a car by my mom and next thing I knew we were living in Arizona! My parents divorce must have come as a shock to my father, I don't know! But I know there was bitterness for years on the side of my mom!

My mom eventually remarried and we were adopted by my stepfather Roger Wiseman. We weren't rich, but we enjoyed life...we would go on weekly drives around the state of California and we never knew where we would end up...an hour away from home or 8 hours, it was just where the gas and my dad took us.

We had summer vacations every year and my parents took a few days vacation each year without us. My brother was the star athlete in our family & I loved going to his baseball games and cheering on his team.

We played baseball with our parents and neighborhood kids, my dad would race us around the neighborhood and he taught us about money and how to save...not to sure I learned that lesson 100%, but I have the basics down!

My mom and step-dad eventually divorced after I got married and they both remarried wonderful people. Wayne and Virginia, my biological parents, both passed away last year, less than 3 months apart. My mom for metastatic breast cancer & my father from ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

I am blessed, my step-father could have turned his back on us and walked away, but he didn't. For that, I am so blessed. He is an amazing man, father and grandpa. His wife is wonderful. He probably won't see this, but I am going to say it anyway...

So, daddy...I want to wish you a very Happy Fathers Day and tell you thanks for all you did to raise us right, you did a great job & I love you! Thanks, for not closing the door on us when you remarried & keeping us all close to your heart and making me smile and for showing me how great a dad can be!