A Tribute to My Father

Hello Reader...It's belated but I would like to pay tribute to the man who contributed half of my life, who helped to mold me into the man I am today, my father,my real one.

(I apologize but I don't have an actual picture of my dad)

Lawrence William Polk was born January 20th,1953 in East Liverpool, Ohio to William and Virginia Polk. He has an older sister, Margaret, and that's about it as far as knowledge of their genealogy.  The Polk family moved to Aliquippa, Pennsylvania in the mid-60's and when he was around 17 he met Kathleen Depner who figures into the story later.

He attended and graduated from Aliquippa High School(the same school that produced Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett) in 1970. He immediately went to work for J and L Steel out of Pittsburgh and in 1974 married Kathleen Depner in a small ceremony. They had one child together, yours truly, on July 2nd,1975. Sadly, with the demise of the steel industry also came the demise of their marriage and in 1981, the old man and me moved out to Southern California to live with my aunt.

In 1987, he met one Sharon Snyder(who in the novel of my life would play antagonist but that is a different story) and a year later the three of us moved to West Virginia. As I got older, my father and I didn't see eye to eye on a certain few issues and in 1992 we severed our relationship.

I'm not going to spend the rest of this post whining and crying about what might have been. Instead, I choose to honor the man's strengths. He had this goofball sense of humor that few, if anyone, got. His work ethic was impeccable. His love of music influenced me in so many ways as did him. No matter what happens, I will always love and respect him. He had a hard road to hoe and it made him stronger thus making me stronger, too.

Thank you dad!