Who do you miss most in your life?

[Sweet_Cigars]

Originally Posted by Cigar Man Andy

Thank you all for the stories. I felt that this thread only brings us closer as BOTL/SOTLs. To me, it's not enough to just know who bombed who, or what cigar would be your last. I never imagined the friendships that can come out of a forum. So when you meet one or two of us in person, and you will, there will be more there than you could ever have imagined.

I can't wait to meet some of you BOTL/SOTL's in person. I with you on the friendships, it's amazing how close we are all becoming by simply putting some words up on a post. I'm starting to believe that I was drawn to this forums for a reason. Not only do we have fun with bombs and contest but we are there for each other with prayers and uplifting pm's(Thanks Gary-Cigary). This forum has become an important part of my life.

[QWKDTSN]

I absolutely miss my dad the most. He died in August of 2005. The worst moment of my life was when my phone rang and my mom told me.

He was a mechanical engineer and enthusiastic amateur pilot. He built his own airplane from a set of $90 plans and materials from scratch in our garage in 1978-82. He was meticulous and caring in all aspects of his life but flying was his special love.

He died in a crash on approach to landing at a weekend fly-in he had frequented for years. We don't have any answers what happened, but the most likely answer is that he suffered a sudden, incapacitating heart attack or stroke. He was in good health and his airplane was always in excellent condition so the crash was a devastating shock to everyone.

He didn't smoke and only drank a little, and probably wouldn't approve of me smoking cigars, but I wish I were able to sit with him and share a beer and a stogie just once.

[GrtndpwrflOZ]

My MOM

[Cigary]

Originally Posted by Sweet_Cigars

I can't wait to meet some of you BOTL/SOTL's in person. I with you on the friendships, it's amazing how close we are all becoming by simply putting some words up on a post. I'm starting to believe that I was drawn to this forums for a reason. Not only do we have fun with bombs and contest but we are there for each other with prayers and uplifting pm's(Thanks Gary-Cigary). This forum has become an important part of my life.

You are most welcome my friend,,,,this is exactly what cigar people are all about,,,we take up the slack and become the mortar between the bricks in life.

Originally Posted by QWKDTSN

I absolutely miss my dad the most. He died in August of 2005. The worst moment of my life was when my phone rang and my mom told me.

He was a mechanical engineer and enthusiastic amateur pilot. He built his own airplane from a set of $90 plans and materials from scratch in our garage in 1978-82. He was meticulous and caring in all aspects of his life but flying was his special love.

He died in a crash on approach to landing at a weekend fly-in he had frequented for years. We don't have any answers what happened, but the most likely answer is that he suffered a sudden, incapacitating heart attack or stroke. He was in good health and his airplane was always in excellent condition so the crash was a devastating shock to everyone.

He didn't smoke and only drank a little, and probably wouldn't approve of me smoking cigars, but I wish I were able to sit with him and share a beer and a stogie just once.

I gotta believe that what your Dad would want most of all for you is your quality of life and to be the man that you are,,,,cigars are something that you incorportate into an already good life.

[Sweet_Cigars]

Cigar Man Andy! I just wanted to thank you for this thread.

I have recieved several pm's and personal email's that were uplifting to the situation I dealt with, with my father.

For those of you who have sent me a pm or a email, thank you so much for your kind words and for really helping finally dealing with this so that I can put it to rest.

I the BOTL/SOTL on this forums!!!

[Cigar Man Andy]

Originally Posted by Sweet_Cigars

Cigar Man Andy! I just wanted to thank you for this thread.

I have recieved several pm's and personal email's that were uplifting to the situation I dealt with, with my father.

For those of you who have sent me a pm or a email, thank you so much for your kind words and for really helping finally dealing with this so that I can put it to rest.

I the BOTL/SOTL on this forums!!!

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Cigary

You are most welcome my friend,,,,this is exactly what cigar people are all about,,,we take up the slack and become the mortar between the bricks in life.

Originally Posted by Cigary

I gotta believe that what your Dad would want most of all for you is your quality of life and to be the man that you are,,,,cigars are something that you incorportate into an already good life.

An eloquent and meaningful analogy Gary, you are a gentleman and a great BOTL. Can't wait to smoke a good cigar with you my friend.

[two2play]

Originally Posted by Cigar Man Andy

Recently I have had a lot going on in my life as some of you know. I've had a lot of free time to think and reminisce. Something clicked when I read a thread about who you would smoke a cigar with if you could. Alive or dead. I started thinking about my father. Not being a cigar smoker, he did not apply to that thread, so I thought this would be an interesting thread to post.

My father was my best friend. We went to Dodger's and Angel's games, golfed, bowled but most of all we could talk about anything. He was a genius in finance and is in the California history books. He read faster than anyone I ever saw and could read an entire Isaac Asimov or Ian Flemming book during dinner. He had an amazing memory an never forgot anyone he met. If I ever needed advise, he had the right answer. He was the Finance and budget MGR and then the Asst. City manager of Torrance, CA. He created Torrance's Rapid Transit system in 1959 and over the next fifteen years brought several major companies Torrance including Mobile Oil, Dow Chemical, Honda and Toyota. When he retired from Torrance, he was hire as a consultant and helped Hermosa Beach to come out of bankruptcy.

When I moved to Virginia from LA, I got married and my wife became pregnant. My father started getting sick, but didn't tell me for fear that I would drop everything an come. My oldest daughter was born on April 20, 1986, and my father died on June 14, 1986. So my first Father's Day as a father was spent on a airplane going to LA without my daughter and without my father. So this time of the year, I really do miss Dad.

Who is it that you miss the most?

My beautiful wife of 30+ years, Carol. I had to take her off life support on 10/12/2006 after her heroic battle against NK T-Cell Lymphoma.

[Sweet_Cigars]

Originally Posted by two2play

My beautiful wife of 30+ years, Carol. I had to take her off life support on 10/12/2006 after her heroic battle against NK T-Cell Lymphoma.

Wow, I really don't know what to say other than I'm sorry for your loss. May God bless you to help you cope with your situation.

[holmes711]

I really miss my Dad who passed away 15 years ago, 7 days from his birthday. We had a big 50th birthday party planned for him the following week, even though he wasn't there, we decided to have it anyway. It was a good time to reflect and honor his life. It has been a been a long time but not a day goes by I don't think of him and wish we could hang out together. He was my best friend!

[orca99usa]

A lot of things come to mind. My mother passed away in 1984 at age 57, a victim of breast cancer. She passed about 90 days after her diagnosis, so we didn't have a lot of time to adjust. She and I were very close. She was a nurse and my father (in the military) simply didn't understand (and apparently didn't care to) when she needed to vent after a hard night at work. I was her sounding board. My mother passed away on my father's birthday.

My grandfather (my mother's father) was always very active for his age. He lived in St. John's, Newfoundland. The last time I saw him (he was merely 97 then) I took him to a hockey game in St. John's. He was an avid hockey fan but he wasn't driving at that point, he didn't have friends who went to the games and going on the bus was a hassle. The time I took him was the only time he went to a live game for the local team. It was a special night for both of us. About three weeks after his 100th birthday, he had a heart attack and passed away the next day. I had planned to go for the funeral, but I found out the day before that the company I was working for was closing my facility and I would soon be out of work. This was a very bad time, because...

...two days after my grandfather died, my father passed away. My sister called in the middle of the night - which she never does - to tell me the news. Had I gone to Newfoundland for my grandfather's funeral, I would have found out the night before that my father had died, and I would have had to fly from there to Florida for a second funeral. His death was unexpected. He had just gotten out of the hospital a couple of days earlier, but he was apparently in good health. My father had his issues, to be sure, but he gave me a lot of the values I carry to this day - including courtesy, honesty and a strong work ethic. He also imparted his love of baseball and aviation (he was career military and a World War II veteran).

Finally, my friend Alan in England. Alan and I met by pure chance. I posted on a baseball message board and he wrote to me, as he put it, "because you don't seem like the usual cretins on this board." He was a bit of an anomaly - a baseball fan in Britain who had never been to the US. We corresponded for about ten years, first about baseball and eventually about everything friends discuss. My wife and I were guests in his home in 2001 when we traveled to the UK. On July 5 last year, I got an e-mail from Alan (or so I thought) entitled "My father's passing". I read the letter, and it was from Alan's son Dominic, contacting me through his father's e-mail account. Alan had been battling cancer, but I had no idea how far advanced it was. The last of many letters I got from him was about ten days before his death. Baseball season seems a lot more empty now, as does soccer (Alan turned me into an Arsenal fan). He died on July 4, 2008. As we go into this Independence Day I have mixed emotions. Even now I see something in a baseball game and I think for a fleeting instant, "I have to tell Alan about this." I have a Graycliff Chateau Grand Cru salomon waiting to be lit in his honor on July 4.

[redlegrod]

There are a few I can think of that I miss most, but I can tell you with 100% accuracy who I miss least----MY EX-WIFE!

[SMOKING HANDSOME DUDE]

I would have to say I miss my Dad the most. He taught me everything I know about business and sales. He was a great man and I loved and respected him a lot. I miss him most during Fathers Day.