Today Would Have Been My Father's 80th Birthday (Miami, FL, August 2007)

My father was born on August 6, 1929. (It's an easy date to remember, the bomb on Hiroshima was dropped on his 16th birthday.) We had planned to go back to Miami to be with him today.

These two pictures were taken on his 77th birthday, we took an Island Queen boat ride to celebrate (see the sign in the background). That was about the last time that there was much vitality to his life: he was getting around Miami Beach some, even taking the South Beach local to get haircuts, shopping in Publix on his own, etc. Shortly after that he weakened further, and couldn't do those things on his own any more.