Do you ever take time to think about your four fathers?
For a while now, I’ve been hearing about “my four fathers”, “your four fathers”, “our four fathers”, and I finally decided to do some research into the whole thing.
I mean, I always knew the father that was married to and lived with my mother, but now I was curious about the other three.
It took some digging, but I finally pieced together what happened to them:
Stan Thompson was my second father. He played third trombone in an out of work poker band. You may have heard a song that someone wrote about him some time ago. I think it was in a musical. Any way you slice it, he was an inspiration. How many people play third trombone in an out of work band and actually stick with it? Not many, but my second father was a man who followed his dreams.
My third father was not as dedicated a man. Tim Varanzo has been described as “shifty”, “malevolent” and “tall”. Apparently, he could never hold down a job. However, they do say that he had a lot of sole…at least while he was a fisherman. That was one of his jobs. To fish for sole. I hear he was good at that til one day he hooked his boss’ thumb, and neither of them were ever the same after that.
My fourth father, despite my best efforts to track down his story, remains a mystery. Every time I found a lead, it would eventually wind up at a dead end. Don’t think I’ve given up though. I know he’s out there. Or maybe he’s sitting right next to me as I type…although I’m pretty sure he’s not an Asian woman.
You just never know with four fathers though. They could be anywhere or anyone. I encourage you to follow my lead and track yours down too…