Dad

Theodore Weller was a man, a father, a husband but mostly a fine man. Born in the early 20s, Ted was brought into this world by two very honest and respectable people. Those people being my grandparents of course. Those days were hard; there was not much money and a lot of hard work. My dad was the oldest of three children, and was a child during the days of President Theodore Roosevelt. His nickname was Teddy. His nickname was given because of a childhood photograph. In it, he wore a black suit with a top hat, much like the president wore. I think he was about 5 years old at this time.

Dad was raised in times when people respected each other and hard work was the norm. He and his two younger sisters lived on a chicken ranch that my grandfather managed in the Central Valley of California. It was a living, tough but a living. Then, when the great depression hit the country, my family lost the ranch and moved to a communal gold mining site near Sonora California. There were 5 families that lived, worked the mine, and grew their own foods and eked out a living on the mountainous land.

My father helped work the mine, raise his sisters and was home schooled until the years of High School. At that time he moved into Sonora with family friends, and attended the Sonora High School. As the world progressed and my father grew older, he joined the Army Air Corp and was stationed in many places around the world, serving his country and having a good time with his buddies. He met my mother by chance, because he was on leave with one of his Army buddies in New Jersey.

My Family

As the war ended and my father was returning to civilian life, he married my mother and brought her back to California. There my older Brother, sister and I were born. We were raised in the Santa Clara Valley, where life was slow and mostly consisted of ranches, farms and orchards. We all attended the same elementary school and played with the neighborhood kids. We had many good summer nights playing hide and seek and a variety of other games.

As a child, I was always into something; I was precocious, animated, intelligent and bold. All through these years, I associated with my dad; he was my friend, my idol and my mentor. We spent many hours in the garden, or fixing the fence or some other thing.

My parents divorced when I was about 6 years old, and to this day I remember the discussion when my parents sat us down and told us what was happening. I don’t think I was ever the same after that, but somehow I realized that both my parents loved me and that this was not something that was caused by me or my siblings. I lived with my mom for the balance of my elementary years, but moved to live with my dad for junior high school and high school.

As I grew older, I too joined the service. I enlisted in the USAF and was serving in the late Vietnam era. I constantly visited my dad and my mom from this point on, but was out building my life, saving lives and experiencing life in a huge variety of ways. I lived through the eras of protest, free love, racial inequality, women’s rights and a few others. I saw the world go from the old black box televisions to what we have now.

All through my life, I respected my father for his quiet intelligence and his ability to associate with just about anyone. He had a way of sharing his knowledge and experience that made others feel comfortable and part of the family.

I would play my guitar for him in the patio of his home talking and listening to his stories for hours at a time. He taught me so much, most of it I never realized till much later on. Dad taught me about honor, respect, love, true spirit and so much more.

My father passed away on July 18th, 2007 at 07:56 in the morning. It was the morning of my 51st birth day. I had spent the night before with him talking and sharing my thoughts. He could not really talk anymore, but he could hear me and would hold my hand and occasionally smile. I kissed his forehead and told him, “Dad, please go, it is time and I will be OK.”

He passed away that next morning quietly at home in his own bed at peace.

This man taught me so much, he shared without hesitation, and he was the most honorable, truest and most caring man I will ever know.

Dad, I love you….