Happy Birthday Dad! (Robert F. Downey, Sr. (Born: August 30, 1924 - Heaven: March 19, 1968) Dad, this would be your 89th Birthday and I only got to know you for 11 years – but they were eleven wonderful years and I still miss you and Mom every single day. I just wanted to let you know that Keenie and me turned out “okay”. No small part that we had great relatives here and you both looking down on us and maybe even interceding to and for us, when things looked bleak. It wasn’t all peaches and cream after you left us – quite the opposite. Mommy missed you so desperately, that she went into a shell and pined for you – the love of her life. She did a pretty good job of raising us on her own with some help from Gramma “B”, Grandma Downey, Aunt Eleanor, Aunt Alice and the rest of our family. Mom and the rest of the family kept us focused and gave us a nice and solid life. Dad, I just wanted to let you know that you had a big influence on the rest of my life; even though we only got to share a few years together. I have the same love of baseball that you had, and in-fact I coached kids in baseball for about 25 years. I think I passed our love of baseball onto your grandchildren: Bobby, Jessica, and Jeffrey (More about them later). I got into coaching, because I saw how you touched kids and how they respected you. I remember at your funeral some of your players and other teams players coming to pay their respects and seeing the tears in their eyes. You touched people through a sport and I thought that was absolutely beautiful, and it was a way that I could emulate your memory. You know, I still get a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat at the end of the movie ‘Field of Dreams’, when the character Ray Kinsella calls out to his dad and says: “Hey dad, wanna have a catch?” I think of you and my heartaches that we never got to share that one last catch. Guess who also went into the U.S. Navy – like you? Yep, you guessed it – me. Just, another one of your influences, I guess. The Navy was good for me, I got to grow-up pretty quickly, learn some responsibility and I developed a pretty good work ethic. I thought that you working in the D.A.’s detective unit was a great way of life, so I also became a cop, and spent most of my career as a detective with the County – another influence from you. I’ve done “okay” as a cop and I always went about my job making sure that you and mom would have been proud of the job that I did. I always strived to do my job with honor and I hoped and prayed that everyday I lived up to those standards. I got married to the love of my life, my absolute best friend and soul mate, Maria. She is the best thing that ever happened to me and has kept me grounded and focused. She was never afraid to tell me when I screwed up and she made me focus on “family First” credo. I think you’d be proud of her and would love her as much as I do. She blessed me with three beautiful children: Bobby (the 3rd), Jessica, and Jeff. They are really good kids and you would have been thrilled watching them grow-up. They’ve turned out okay as well. Bobby and his wife Cristin have given us two beautiful grandchildren Frankie (actually, Robert IV) and Finn Liam. Jeff got married to Ashley about 10 months ago. Both of our daughter-in-laws are very special women and we are lucky to have them in our family! Jessica teaches 2nd grade and just enjoys the heck out of life. Like I said before, Mom only stayed here long enough to see her first grandchild Bobby, before she joined you in heaven. We all know that she desperately missed you and just went through the motions of life after you went to heaven. But, she waited until we were grown and knew that we could handle this life without her guiding influence. I never told anyone this before; but I used to catch her crying late at night, talking to you and wishing that the two of you could be together. Well, God called her home about 30 years ago and I know you two are happy together, looking down on us and quietly guiding us to be the very best that we can be in this life. Keenie lives in your old neighborhood and is doing well. She gave me a real scare about 3 and one-half years ago. She got sick and it petrified me, knowing that I could have lost my baby-sister. But, she is strong willed and wasn’t letting this beat her. She and I don’t talk as much as we should simply because we are both so dang hardheaded and stubborn; but I think she knows that I love her and would do whatever I could for her. Like I said, I was so scared about her health – I cried quite a bit, because I feared losing her. I hope you and Mom keep looking down from Heaven and guiding her and helping her. You know, I didn’t get the chance to have a Dad physically with me as I grew up – but I had a Dad’s spirit to quietly guide me and I have always held you close in my heart. There were times that I had some petty jealousies of my friends, and others because they got to share some great times with their dad – but I was never mad at you or at God. I just had to keep you close in my heart knowing that one day we would be reunited together. We were only shared this earth for eleven years – but I’ve had a heart full of joy and memories of you and Mom, knowing that you watch over us and made sure that we turned out okay. I just wanted to let you know how much I loved you and the special place you have in my heart and that you were never forgotten. As Roy Rogers use to sing on Saturday mornings: “Happy Trails, until we meet again”! To my Facebook Friends who may have read this: Excuse me for using this forum to say things that I’ve been thinking of, for many, many years – but I never had a chance to have those little talks with my Dad. I never got to say goodbye to him until it was too late, and I never had a chance to show him that his work turned out “okay”. I appreciate you putting up with my dialogue and I hope everyone finds peace within their own heart when they lose people that mean so much to them!
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 11:44:21 +0000
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