Friday, March 20, 2015

Dad

We were so lucky to have had this Dad.   Friends have said the same thing, to have had this friend.   Patients, to have had this Doctor.

Memories are wonderful.    Sometimes hard to paint with words, so I’m going to revel in photos. 

 

This is the Dad I remember most:  thoughtful, kind, and generous.    I also remember this photo more than most as this is also one of the very first photos I ever took, during a youth retreat:

scan0004

Another one I remember clearly, New GrandDad on the first visit to a New Dad:  

8604_mal_boys

It was Dad who gave me my interest in technology.   Here we are in our element:

9501_bruce_dad_study

This is the Malcolm most will remember, and good friend and colleague:  

Larry  Mal & Ed 129997_dad_named_fellow[9]

These were some of Dad’s early and cherished memories, now also etched into my memory via pixel magic:

031 Malcolm with Flash 1942034  Malcolm 45036 Mal on Lolo `194801 Winter family 0148

An overwhelmed medical student:

040 college cats

A young Air Force Captain, looks a little Elvis Presley in his Army photos:

055a Airforce Portrait054 MDWJr 58

A young husband with a beautiful bride.   I inherited that shirt … was one of my favorites until I wore it out:

049 Winter Beth & Mal Lake Mich 1953050 weddingcake53

Now with a growing family:

01 Winter family 3 generations 0157

Family dressing up in two styles:  Sunday Best -vs- Oriental.   Scott and Malcolm clearly prefer oriental … I didn't like either:

16 Winter family 116017 Winter family 1260

And then Susan appears.  Us boys were excited, but Susan looks like she is having 2nd thoughts about joining this crazy family of mostly boys:

63_winter_family2

One year, after a growth spirit, all us boys sprouted sporty glasses:

65_winter_family1

Yearly Christmas photos were a tradition:

76_winter_family_xmas[3]

74_winter_family_xmas76_xmas1

Another admirable tradition were nightly family dinners.   In our younger years, Dad would read fun stories, like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,  after dinner:

08 family dinner 0977

We started reality TV back in the ‘70s:    The Winter Family, live on Miles City Television

12 Winter family TV _74

We had lots of fun adventures.   Here Dad was the pilot of the maiden voyage of our unsinkable glass bottom boat.   Boy did we try to sink it … rather lots of Boys tried to sink it:

38 Glassbottom boat new Livingston 69

Another notorious Dad activity was to take anyone and everyone out on adventurous 4 wheel Scout rides.   Here the Mottram family is getting indoctrinated:

04 1968 International Scout 0869

The best of those Scout adventures was when Dad got thoroughly stuck, which he seemed to do on purpose so he could play with the winch:

01 Birney Snowdrift 67

The best-est of those stuck Scout adventures was when it was 30 miles in the middle of nowhere:

06a Scout stuck above Picket Pen Road 0765

Fortunately, motorcycles don’t come with winches, so Mom was relatively safe during the motorcycle years:

08 Mal Beth on  dirt bikes 75

Hiking was another Dad sport.   Here in ties with a young Uncle Tim:

07 Yellowstone P Beth Scott Malcolm Mal Tim Bruce 64

And with friend Bill and a slightly older, this time tie-less Uncle Tim:

46 Independence BillH Tim Mal 66

Dad’s most favorite outside sport was fishing.  

040-18 Mal with catfish 6797_09_dad_fish

28a Mal Winter with McPhail Lake Troat 088406 Mal fishing 73

He taught all of us how to fish:

41  Mal & Scott with fish 0876

08 Mal with kids12 Mal & Susan with 1st fish 0873040-5 Mal & Susan 679407_zack_dad_fish297_08_zack_dad_fish

Dad lead us on many family backpacking adventures, often to remote and scenic Montana lakes:

32 Scott Sue Mal Beth Malcolm Bruce Crazy Mt 73

Some of the trips were more adventuress than intended, making them even more memorable:

38  leaving DewyL Bruce Scott Van Jay Susan Beth Mal 73

We also did quite a bit of mountain climbing, conquering many of Montana’s highest peaks:

12 Mal & Bruce 73

24 Bruce Mal crazy mt peak 73

 

10 Mal 0574

01 Malcolm Mal Bruce start of hike 7406 Mal Malcolm Bruce on astroturf 74

22 Malcolm Mal Tom coming down 0876

0828 Bruce Mal & myself on top of Whitetale Mountain, Beartooths, Montana

This is the snow bridge on Granite peak, Montana’s highest mountain.   It took us a few tries, but it was one of Dad’s proudest victories:

21  Mal & Malcolm on snow bridge 74

This was the trickiest pitch:

24 Mal being boosted up final cliff by Tom 74

Dad often came back from summer vacations with a beard, which he kept on to scare patients for a few days:

23 Mal in front yard 1173

Genealogy was another of Dad’s hobbies.  Mom and I once spent a week hunting gravestones with Dad in New York:

PA220836

One last photo.     This one was Dad’s greatest passion:    

Mal & beth kissing 01012000 120101

Love you Dad

Bruce