The Villamor's: Happy Father's Day!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my Big Daddy! I had a very happy childhood and have wonderful memories of my Dad. I was definately a "mama's girl" and hear stories of how I would cry whenever Mama had to leave me with Daddy...i had no reason but that I was a "mama's girl". Sorry Dad! Here is just some history on my father Frank Bentley Layton III.

While he was in the Navy (20 years old at the time) he had problems with his right knee swelling. Exploratory surgery on the knee revealed nothing. They offered him an early discharge, but he wasn't interested. He was reassigned to temporary shore-duty in Charleston, SC for 3 months, to make sure he'd have no more problems with the knee. During that time, the USS Canopus AS-34, a submarine tender (big ship that services submarines; it stays tied to a pier in its home port; subs pull up along side )sailed to it's new home port, Rota, Spain, without him.
That was bitter-sweet. From his early days in boot camp, at Great Lakes, IL, my Dad was assigned to that ship. After 12 months, which included schooling and temporary assignments on other ships in the Norfolk, VA area, the Canopus was ready to be boarded by her initial crew in a shipyard in Papcagoola, MS. They brought the new ship to Charleston. He was on the Canopus for it's shake-down cruise, and for it's commissioning, on November 4, 1965.

(Shake-down Cruise: where drills are performed day & night in the beautiful Caribbean, pushing the ship and crew to their limits, to see if either would break; if everything on the ship works -- all systems having been pushed to their limits, and beyond, the ship is transferred to the Navy, the shipyard having fulfilled it's contract to make an ocean-worthy ship. This is how the initial crew is trained. Training is part of the life for the ship and crew, preparedness for all emergencies.)

Now the sweet. After his 3 months of shore duty in Charleston, my Dad was assigned to another sub tender, the USS Bushnell AS-15 -- in Key West, FL! That's where he found a Southern Belle named, Joann. Dad was smittened and they married in January of 1968.

Dad finished his 4-year enlistment in Key West, and was honorably discharged in Aug 1968. One reason he didn't want to take the early discharge is because he did not want to go back to his home. No one there had ever finished anything and he knew he needed all the schooling, education and opprotunities the Navy could give him so he could have a better life. I mean no disrespect to my Dad's siblings but they are a mess!

My dad was one of 5 children and he is actually a twin. All his siblings fell into alcholism and are basically married to the bottle. He is the only one who stayed married and whose children are not drunks. He has told us that he seemed to have more of a conscious than his siblings and I am glad he did! Early in their marriage 2 missionaries from the LDS church knocked on their door. They recognized the truth immediately and were baptized shortly after that. He broke the cycle of alcholism when he did that and it also saved their marriage. I am so grateful for the missionaries who knocked on their door and for them accepting the gospel into their lives. I don't know where I would be without it!

Daddy informed me that his diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis( i thought he was diagnosed with that in the Navy) came later in life but for as long as I can remember we always included this phrase in our family prayers "help Daddy feel better". Given the nature of his disease he will never get better....just worse. He had to retire at 42 which meant we were pretty poor for a while until his disability kicked in. Since I was the youngest I didn't really notice but it was hard on the rest of the family. My dad learned over the years how to take his pain gracefully. He missed out on a lot of ballgames and recitals and concerts but he was always supportive in what we were doing.

He taught himself how to play the guitar and we would all sit around and sing Ray Stevens songs. We knew all the words to "Jeremiah Peabody", "Shriner's Convention" and my dad's favorite "Guitarzan". We were the backup singers to that song! I remember one trip to Florida(to visit his Mother) we only had one cassette to listen to....and guess what it was....Ray Stevens!

We would also do skits and tape ourselves on a cassette recorder(that makes me feel old). I sure wish we still had those cassettes....maybe we do....they could be hidden somewhere in his room!

My dad has a great sense of humor....so does my mom. That is where I get all my "hardy har har" from! Bolivar Shagnastynasty(double nasty) and Snidley Whiplash were a couple of names he had....can't remember where Bolivar Shagnastynasty came from but it was a favorite. One time I had some papers I needed signed for school and guess what name my dad signed them as....Bolivar Shagnastynasty! I didn't see it until I was about to hand them in! I had to explain to my teacher who that was....so embarrassing! I learned to let my Mom sign everything:)

My dad was(and continues to be) a wonderful father and Fia and Nate are so lucky to have him as their "Grampie". Here are some shots of him I had on my computer.

Grampie has unique relationships with each grandchild and Sophia's is no exception. From the time she could walk and talk she has loved going back into Grampie's room where he would tell her silly stories or watch cartoons together. My dad is 95% bedridden with his disease so he spends most of his time in his room lieing in his bed either watching TV, working on his computer or reading so he was a captive audience for Sophia! But he loved her visits and coming up with crazy stories for her enjoyment. Grampie would also play silly games with Fia on his palm pilot. Ganny and I would be in the living room talking or working and there would be bursts of laughter and lots of giggling coming from his room brought on by some silly game they made up! It took a while before Nate would venture back there. Nate had some anxiety issues when he was younger and Grampie's room was pretty junky which probably overwhelmed him!! So he didn't want to stay back there without me. This changed over the years and especially when Grampie bought an Xbox! Now Nate can't wait to visit so he can beat Grampie playing ski jump!

Since Grampie can't go outside and play he had to buy the Zbox so he could interact with the grandkids....and they love it!
Daddy took up photography as a hobby when I was about 12 I believe. For as long as I can remember he was always saying "let's get a picture!". This request was always at a bad time....like when we were running out the door for a football game(we were all in the marching band) or a sporting event. So most of our pictures are of us sulking because he was making us late:) Now we can't leave his house without a "photo shoot". He not only sets up the camera on the tripod but he has concocted a backdrop that is hung on the curtain rod. he is too funny! We will appreciate all the pictures he has taken of us when we get older....that is if we can get a copy of them, right Trudy???