A Very Memorable Memorial Day from Our Fathers Who Art In Heaven

        My wife Barb always says that "things happen for a reason". One of the contributing writers, whose story was selected by an independent panel for the "Our Fathers Who Art In Heaven" book, happens to also be from Buffalo, New York.

        This is an excerpt from the book "Introduction" that explains how I met Tom Basinski and learn about his Father....

"A couple of years later, I was heading home from a day of boating and stopped at a local gas station to fill up the tank in the boat. On the other side of the pump, a motorcyclist pulled up and got off the motorcycle to fill his tank. I smiled and said, “I wish my boat had your tank.” He smiled and said that he wished he had my boat. We laughed and then I noticed that his motorcycle had the most elaborate and unusual paint job on the tank and fenders: a Maltese cross, a Vargas girl, bullet holes, and other very unique details.

            Having painted vehicles and motorcycles when I was a kid, I could appreciate that this was no ordinary paint job. I complimented him on the wonderful “art work” on two wheels. He said it was a tribute to his late father who recently passed away. I then told him that I had been working on a book for several years, more off than on, and it was about the lessons in life and leadership from deceased fathers. He smiled and turned toward his saddle bags, gently opened one of the flaps, and pulled out a couple pages of 8 ½ x 11 paper stapled together. He handed them to me and said, “Here, you can have this. It is a story about my late father who was a World War II pilot. The paint job on my motorcycle is the same as the paint job on the side of my father’s plane. The only difference is that his bullet holes weren’t painted on the plane. They were real!” (See page 181 of the book for Tom's story, "Dinah Might").

            As I pulled away from the pumps and headed down the street, I looked in the rear view mirror to catch one more glimpse of that very special motorcycle. The moment my eyes moved from the road ahead to the mirror, the setting sun filled my mirror with the most brilliant light, and I could only hear the motorcycle pulling away."

        As I reflect on this situation and others, I realize they were not “coincidences” at all; rather, total strangers (maybe even the spirits of all those deceased fathers) were guiding me to share their stories about their deceased Father. Well, the Tom Basinski story continues on today.

        The books were shipped from the printer about ten days ago, just in time for my speech and book signing at the Coastal Carolinas Writers Retreat. When I got back, Barb and I worked on shipping the first batch of books to all of the wonderful and ever-patient contributing writers (see the complete list of their names in the left column of this blog). This job was a lot bigger than we expected. Our dining room turned into a temporary shipping area the night of our 35th Wedding Anniversary!

        Tom's book order was all set. When Barb looked at the shipping label, she said that Tom lived nearby (I only met him the one time at the gas station and did not know where he lived). So I called and left a message about dropping off the books. We played a little telephone tag and I got a call back saying he was out of town and would not be back until Monday.

       Today, Tom Basinski got his books on his way to the cemetery to visit his Father's grave. His deceased Father's essay is the last story in the book which is about his Father who was a veteran of World War II.

       Today is Monday, May 30th, Memorial Day,  "There are no coincidences!

That is Tom Basinski on the right with his motorcycle that I originally admired at the gas station a few years ago! The paint job and metal work have numerous details which reflect his research about his Father's plane, combat missions and medals of honor.

          Tom will have his motorcycle on display for the First Annual Father's Day Celebration at the Eastern Hills Mall on Saturday June 18th.Other contributing writers will be there as well as an opportunity for the first "Kids Drawing Fathers E-book" which will be posted on this site for free on Father's Day along with "Thoughts on Fathers E-book" with submissions from adults attending the Father's Day Celebration. More details will be posted on this site within the next week. Stay tuned!