LifeCentering

Father’s Day 2025

                                                                                                                

                 

My father, Arthur Perin, was born March 6, 1898, in Connersville, Indiana, the eighth of twelve children.  He served as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps in World War I.  The only story I remember him telling me about his service when as a youngster came as I would ask, “What did you do in the war daddy?” He told of his ship being shot out from under them. He was able to grab a bit of floating debris.  Along came another marine, a rather stout man, who grabbed for the same debris.  Not a big enough piece for the two of them, my dad left to find something else to hang onto until rescued.  Obviously, he lived to tell the story!  The older I got, the more I wondered about the truth of the tale!  It made no difference; he was my hero in any case.

Dad was a jack of all trades and did well at most everything he tried. He made a set of chess pieces when I was about seven. They were fashioned on a lathe with the knights carved by hand.  I still have the set but am no better at playing than I ever was. He made many other hand-crafted works. The most ambitious items he crafted were four violins which were made in his 75^th year.  I arranged for those instruments to be donated to “The Last Repair Shop,” a part of the Los Angeles School District.  The students will repair them as needed and they will then be given to students who might not be able to have one otherwise.

My dad passed July 8, 1981, in West Salem, Oregon.  The older I get the more I wish I had lived closer so we might have shared more.