The Old Poop as a Little Shit. Dad’s the short one in front. Family photo, I believe taken in the summer of 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. Back row: Raymond J. Lillie, Raymond B. Lillie, Roger Lillie, Jim Lillie. Front Row: Chuck Lillie, Clara Lillie (Moisio) and Vera C. Lillie.

Still the short one. It’s frightening how these faces keep showing up in succeeding generations. On the left, Roger Lillie, Vera C. Lillie, Clara Lillie (Moisio), and Little Chuckles. On the right, Big Brother Roger and Little Brother Chuck.

Wedding Day! The reason Dad looks like a little boy wearing his big brother’s suit is because he is. He was in the Army, stationed in Germany and home on leave to get married. (Mom joined him in Germany.) His dress uniform in those days was brown. Mom didn’t want brown in her wedding, so he borrowed Roger’s suit. If the uniform had been the green that came along a few years later, his clothes would have fit. On the left: Jim Lillie, Chuck Lillie, Kay Lillie, Clara (Lillie) Moisio. On the right: Kay Lillie, Chuck Lillie, and Cake. Jefferson, Ohio 1956.

Dad in a suit that fits! Taken on or around Ray Lillie’s first birthday in Inglewood, California. (May 1962 is stamped on the border of the print, but I suspect this was taken on Easter, which would explain the suit.)

He didn’t always wear a suit. With Ray on the carousel at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, he sports an oh-so-hep hat and shades. Around this time he had a motorcycle and raced three-quarter midgets (cars, you sicko), making my dad—at least the Mad Men era edition—cooler than your dad. 1962.

Cosplay, the 1976 version. Ned Neenan, Hal Hintz, and Dad at Jefferson Days in Jefferson, Ohio. They also did a mean version of “Who’s On First,” but wore different hats. This photo was taken less than two months before he totaled my 1968 Meadowlark Yellow Mustang. Not that I hold grudges or anything.

Wearing an updated hat and shades at his induction into the Jefferson Area Little League Hall of Fame. Pictured with fellow inductees Bill Powers, Butch Gaul, and Pete Febel. They were so busy reminiscing and gossiping, I could’t get their attention until I yelled, “Hey! Old guys.” Also inducted, but not in this picture were Della Tyus and Lou Leary. 2005.

With Ray in the summer of 2011, wearing a different hat but still rocking the shades. Ray grew. Note the poses. Is it heredity or….

…environment? Like Ray, Bob Dailey demonstrates the lasting effects of over-exposure to the Dad. At the wedding of Bobby and Elizabeth Dailey, Ashland, Ohio 2011.

The effects are multi-generational. When I said I wanted a picture of the three of them, Bob, Bobby, and Dad all reached for their suit jackets in unison. 2011.

On his seventy-sixth birthday, with his great-granddaughters and banana cake. 2012.

A few weeks ago, still in the shades. The hat was probably in the car. It took him seven decades of hard work to develop that beer belly, because Its late appearance certainly wasn’t due to a lack of beer or good food. Did any of his offspring inherit his inability to gain weight? Of course not. Also pictured, Joe Nagy and my mom, Kay Lillie. Happy Father’s Day!