I didn’t get along with my dad very well. He was an old school Southern guy with all the racism and misogyny that entails. But, like everyone he did have his good points.
My dad was a chronic tinkerer. He loved to work on things and invent. He owned multiple patents. He was the sort of dad who loved to spend $20 on something he could make rather than buy it for $2.99.
My dad also loved to rope me into fixing things with him no matter how vocal I got about my lack of interest in working on said project.
Segue fifty years into the future. I had a doohickey bust in our house. I priced a new one on the net for this fifty year old doohickey and it was a cool $1500.
I decided to give it a try for the old man (who passed in ’98.) Three hours later and $15 poorer for a new set of parts and said doohickey is back in business, hopefully until I pass. My dad saw I had that gift. It makes me miss him.