June 16, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Paul Bauer, a WCCO 830 listener from Minneapolis, Minnesota, shares two heartfelt Father’s Day stories—one about his father, and the other about his son.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories and our special
Father's Day show, all show long stories about fathers, good ones,
not so good ones. Our next story comes to us
from Paul Bauer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Today.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Paul brings us two Father's Day stories, one about his
father and the other a story about his son.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Like a lot of kids, when I was young, I
didn't always get along with my parents. And then as
I got older, as many kids do, I realized my
parents were not so dumb after all, and they did
all they could to teach me and leave me to
be the best person I can be. I wrote a
short poem describing this relationship with my dad. I thought
Father's Day would be a good time to share this story.
(00:52):
My poem is titled tell It Like It Is, and
it goes like this, I've had fights with my father.
It was my doing. Here is I'll write this story honestly.
In fact, I'll tell it like it is, like many
young teenagers do. I fell into the trap. I don't
need my parents. I don't want to hear their crap.
(01:12):
I don't cause them any trouble. Why can't they just
let me be? Why do they tell me what to do.
Why do they preach to me. They don't know my struggles.
They're not in high school. Come home on time when
you go out, Now, that's a stupid rule. They dragged
me to church on Sundays. I went along begrudgingly. Can't
wait until I'm eighteen. I'll show them. They'll see you're
(01:36):
a fine young man. My dad would say, but there's
much more you could do. I don't want to hear
such nonsense. After all, he has no clue. He didn't
like my selfish ways, but at the time I didn't care.
In one ear and out the other went the wisdom
he had to share. Who am I? Why am I here?
My dad's questions challenged me. There's a broader meaning to
(01:59):
my life. That's what he wanted me to see. Then
I went off to college. My eyes could not believe
their sight. My classmates had this all wrong. Perhaps my
dad was right. I saw disregard for others. Morals went
out the door. This is not the life I want
to live. Dad's right, I can do more. I realized
(02:21):
it wasn't what I did that was not pleasing to Dad,
but rather what I didn't do. There was more life
to be had. His words and actions earlier were now
becoming clear. It's not about myself at all. I should
serve others while I'm here. The talks we had about
our faith, the Bible verses we both read, had new
perspective in my mind. It now made sense what he
(02:42):
had said. I'm here to be a servant, not to receive,
but give. My parents had this figured out. This is
the life they live. If I would have only paid attention,
I would not have gotten it all wrong. My parents
were great examples. I should have seen this all along.
My dad told it like it was my turn to
(03:03):
tell it like it is. My life will have more
purpose when I live mine like Dad lived his. I
love you, Pops. Happy Father's Day. Many of us have
had the experience of loved ones passing away. It can
be quite challenging dealing with the wide range of emotions
that follow. There's a sadness that comes along with missing
(03:25):
them during our daily routines, and there are the fond
memories that we hold on to to help us through
the grieving process. My son Tim passed away at a
much too early young age of thirty. I miss him
very much every day. Some days are harder than others.
His birthday, for example, and the birthdays of his two
young children. My grandkids are especially tough. Anniversaries are difficult,
(03:50):
and even normal nice weather days were in the past
we would randomly get together for a bike ride. They're
just a few examples. One way that I deal with
my emotions is to write. I enjoy writing, and for me,
it seems easier to write than to talk about my feelings.
So when the first Father's Day after Tim's death came around,
(04:12):
I wrote his poem as a tribute to Tim and
as a way to express my emotions. It's titled My
First Father's Day Without You, and it goes like this,
to day is my first Father's Day without you here
to say, Hi, Dad, what would you like to do?
I'm proud to be your dad, And what makes to
day sad is being unable to share it with you.
(04:35):
I sure miss you, son. You are my number one.
God called you after thirty short years. I don't understand why,
and I'm not gonna lie. I didn't know. I had
so many tears. Some things I cannot explain in my
small human brain, but my faith tells me You're with
our God now. I believe it is true, and somehow
(04:55):
I'll make it through. But I admit some days I wonder,
how do you know? How I care? How much I
wish I was there to be with you the night
God called you home. If we were together that day,
I'd have had so much to say. Instead, I'm left
with this silly poem. It seems I think of you
more than I ever did before. Did I take you
(05:17):
for granted? My son? I'm learning in such a hard
way how precious life is. Each day from now on,
I won't waste a single one. My eyes play tricks
on me?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Is that you.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I see a man walk past. I thought for sure
it was you in the mirror. I stare as though
I see you there, I feel your presence and your
energy too. A golf with your frisbee with nobody but me.
It's not my favorite sport, but you love to play.
It doesn't make you appear, it doesn't bring you back here,
(05:48):
but I feel we are closer this way. Your aunts
and uncles do call helping me through it all. They
share love and support, and they care. They remember Timmy,
and they want to help me. Family, we find true
love there. Day turns into night while I'm at your
grave sight. It's hard to believe life has come down
(06:09):
to this time spent there in my chair saying prayer
after prayer. Do you know it is you that I miss?
Friends ask if I'm okay. I don't know what to say. Truthfully,
I'm not doing so well. Each day there's a new
reminder of me and you. My life has changed, and
I'm sure they can tell. I ask for relief when
(06:32):
I'm alone in my grief, but the sorrow, un hurt
won't go away. I never knew that a dad could
feel so very bad knowing he can't hug his only son.
To day, I miss your sly smile. I haven't seen
it in a while, although when I close my eyes
it is there. I miss hearing Hi Dad. Those two
words make me glad no longer. Hearing them doesn't seem fair. Selfishly,
(06:58):
I want you here. I sure wish you were near.
To Day's a good day for a bike ride with you.
Although I try to let go, believing God wants it so,
I find it very difficult to do with you. I
had fun, but we left so much undone. We had
more joy and sorrow yet to share. When I hear
your kids laugh and I chuckle at their gaff Oh,
(07:21):
how I wish you were there. I don't know what
to do when from out of the blue, Mom's crying.
You and her are apart. My words aren't enough. She
is taking this ruff. I can't fix the hole in
her heart. Your sister gives us hope. She helps Mom
and me cope. She's been wonderful therefore Mom and Dad,
(07:42):
but it's hard on her too. She also misses you,
and she doesn't like seeing me and Mom's sad. If
you were here to day, I love you, son, I
would say I'd give you a big hug if I could,
I'd make sure you knew just how much I love you.
I don't say this as much as I SHU should.
It somehow lessens the hurt. When I wear your T shirt,
(08:05):
I put on your coat when it's cold. I think
I hear your words in the songs of the birds,
that music will never grow old. I try hard to
be strong as each day drags along, much easier said
than is done. When my weakness hits me, you'll find
me down on my knee asking God to please welcome
my son. I'm left with fond memories and fun. Timmy stories,
(08:30):
I tell them as often as I can. Feelings I
never knew arise when I talk about you. My little
boy became a fine young man. I become mesmerized when
I look into Omen's eyes and I see your resemblance
in him. When Piper can't sit still and I see
her determined will, I can't help but think that's my son. Tim.
(08:53):
Your legacy lives on even though you were gone. Your
kids will make you proud. There's no doubt. There are
clear signs of you in all that they do. Your
life shines, it will never burn out. I still see
you clearly watching out the window for me to come
home when you were about eight. Can you do so
once more? And when I'm on earth no more, come
(09:14):
and greet me at Heaven's front gate. Yes. On one hand,
I'm sad, but I'm also very glad. On my first
Father's Day without you, I had thirty great years sharing
laughter in tears, and of course sharing love with you too.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
And a special thanks to Paul Bauer for sharing his
heart and his two Father's Day tributes. His two Father's
Day poems, one to his father and one to his son.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Paul Bower's father's day stories. Two beauties here on our
American story.
And we continue with our American stories and our special
Father's Day show, all show long stories about fathers, good ones,
not so good ones. Our next story comes to us
from Paul Bauer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Today.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Paul brings us two Father's Day stories, one about his
father and the other a story about his son.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Like a lot of kids, when I was young, I
didn't always get along with my parents. And then as
I got older, as many kids do, I realized my
parents were not so dumb after all, and they did
all they could to teach me and leave me to
be the best person I can be. I wrote a
short poem describing this relationship with my dad. I thought
Father's Day would be a good time to share this story.
(00:52):
My poem is titled tell It Like It Is, and
it goes like this, I've had fights with my father.
It was my doing. Here is I'll write this story honestly.
In fact, I'll tell it like it is, like many
young teenagers do. I fell into the trap. I don't
need my parents. I don't want to hear their crap.
(01:12):
I don't cause them any trouble. Why can't they just
let me be? Why do they tell me what to do.
Why do they preach to me. They don't know my struggles.
They're not in high school. Come home on time when
you go out, Now, that's a stupid rule. They dragged
me to church on Sundays. I went along begrudgingly. Can't
wait until I'm eighteen. I'll show them. They'll see you're
(01:36):
a fine young man. My dad would say, but there's
much more you could do. I don't want to hear
such nonsense. After all, he has no clue. He didn't
like my selfish ways, but at the time I didn't care.
In one ear and out the other went the wisdom
he had to share. Who am I? Why am I here?
My dad's questions challenged me. There's a broader meaning to
(01:59):
my life. That's what he wanted me to see. Then
I went off to college. My eyes could not believe
their sight. My classmates had this all wrong. Perhaps my
dad was right. I saw disregard for others. Morals went
out the door. This is not the life I want
to live. Dad's right, I can do more. I realized
(02:21):
it wasn't what I did that was not pleasing to Dad,
but rather what I didn't do. There was more life
to be had. His words and actions earlier were now
becoming clear. It's not about myself at all. I should
serve others while I'm here. The talks we had about
our faith, the Bible verses we both read, had new
perspective in my mind. It now made sense what he
(02:42):
had said. I'm here to be a servant, not to receive,
but give. My parents had this figured out. This is
the life they live. If I would have only paid attention,
I would not have gotten it all wrong. My parents
were great examples. I should have seen this all along.
My dad told it like it was my turn to
(03:03):
tell it like it is. My life will have more
purpose when I live mine like Dad lived his. I
love you, Pops. Happy Father's Day. Many of us have
had the experience of loved ones passing away. It can
be quite challenging dealing with the wide range of emotions
that follow. There's a sadness that comes along with missing
(03:25):
them during our daily routines, and there are the fond
memories that we hold on to to help us through
the grieving process. My son Tim passed away at a
much too early young age of thirty. I miss him
very much every day. Some days are harder than others.
His birthday, for example, and the birthdays of his two
young children. My grandkids are especially tough. Anniversaries are difficult,
(03:50):
and even normal nice weather days were in the past
we would randomly get together for a bike ride. They're
just a few examples. One way that I deal with
my emotions is to write. I enjoy writing, and for me,
it seems easier to write than to talk about my feelings.
So when the first Father's Day after Tim's death came around,
(04:12):
I wrote his poem as a tribute to Tim and
as a way to express my emotions. It's titled My
First Father's Day Without You, and it goes like this,
to day is my first Father's Day without you here
to say, Hi, Dad, what would you like to do?
I'm proud to be your dad, And what makes to
day sad is being unable to share it with you.
(04:35):
I sure miss you, son. You are my number one.
God called you after thirty short years. I don't understand why,
and I'm not gonna lie. I didn't know. I had
so many tears. Some things I cannot explain in my
small human brain, but my faith tells me You're with
our God now. I believe it is true, and somehow
(04:55):
I'll make it through. But I admit some days I wonder,
how do you know? How I care? How much I
wish I was there to be with you the night
God called you home. If we were together that day,
I'd have had so much to say. Instead, I'm left
with this silly poem. It seems I think of you
more than I ever did before. Did I take you
(05:17):
for granted? My son? I'm learning in such a hard
way how precious life is. Each day from now on,
I won't waste a single one. My eyes play tricks
on me?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Is that you.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I see a man walk past. I thought for sure
it was you in the mirror. I stare as though
I see you there, I feel your presence and your
energy too. A golf with your frisbee with nobody but me.
It's not my favorite sport, but you love to play.
It doesn't make you appear, it doesn't bring you back here,
(05:48):
but I feel we are closer this way. Your aunts
and uncles do call helping me through it all. They
share love and support, and they care. They remember Timmy,
and they want to help me. Family, we find true
love there. Day turns into night while I'm at your
grave sight. It's hard to believe life has come down
(06:09):
to this time spent there in my chair saying prayer
after prayer. Do you know it is you that I miss?
Friends ask if I'm okay. I don't know what to say. Truthfully,
I'm not doing so well. Each day there's a new
reminder of me and you. My life has changed, and
I'm sure they can tell. I ask for relief when
(06:32):
I'm alone in my grief, but the sorrow, un hurt
won't go away. I never knew that a dad could
feel so very bad knowing he can't hug his only son.
To day, I miss your sly smile. I haven't seen
it in a while, although when I close my eyes
it is there. I miss hearing Hi Dad. Those two
words make me glad no longer. Hearing them doesn't seem fair. Selfishly,
(06:58):
I want you here. I sure wish you were near.
To Day's a good day for a bike ride with you.
Although I try to let go, believing God wants it so,
I find it very difficult to do with you. I
had fun, but we left so much undone. We had
more joy and sorrow yet to share. When I hear
your kids laugh and I chuckle at their gaff Oh,
(07:21):
how I wish you were there. I don't know what
to do when from out of the blue, Mom's crying.
You and her are apart. My words aren't enough. She
is taking this ruff. I can't fix the hole in
her heart. Your sister gives us hope. She helps Mom
and me cope. She's been wonderful therefore Mom and Dad,
(07:42):
but it's hard on her too. She also misses you,
and she doesn't like seeing me and Mom's sad. If
you were here to day, I love you, son, I
would say I'd give you a big hug if I could,
I'd make sure you knew just how much I love you.
I don't say this as much as I SHU should.
It somehow lessens the hurt. When I wear your T shirt,
(08:05):
I put on your coat when it's cold. I think
I hear your words in the songs of the birds,
that music will never grow old. I try hard to
be strong as each day drags along, much easier said
than is done. When my weakness hits me, you'll find
me down on my knee asking God to please welcome
my son. I'm left with fond memories and fun. Timmy stories,
(08:30):
I tell them as often as I can. Feelings I
never knew arise when I talk about you. My little
boy became a fine young man. I become mesmerized when
I look into Omen's eyes and I see your resemblance
in him. When Piper can't sit still and I see
her determined will, I can't help but think that's my son. Tim.
(08:53):
Your legacy lives on even though you were gone. Your
kids will make you proud. There's no doubt. There are
clear signs of you in all that they do. Your
life shines, it will never burn out. I still see
you clearly watching out the window for me to come
home when you were about eight. Can you do so
once more? And when I'm on earth no more, come
(09:14):
and greet me at Heaven's front gate. Yes. On one hand,
I'm sad, but I'm also very glad. On my first
Father's Day without you, I had thirty great years sharing
laughter in tears, and of course sharing love with you too.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
And a special thanks to Paul Bauer for sharing his
heart and his two Father's Day tributes. His two Father's
Day poems, one to his father and one to his son.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Paul Bower's father's day stories. Two beauties here on our
American story.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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