I apologize for such a lengthy description, but felt it necessary to explain this photo. It is not a shrine. It is simply respect for my father, family and name.

Pictured are many items that I cherish and use to honor my late father and family. He passed away in November of 2004. He would have been 97 on the 30th of this month. My ID on this site is 0930_23. I often wonder the backstory behind many of the ID's on Caedes. You now know mine.

First, there are three photos of him. One displaying a turkey he bagged, another with his two granddaughters and one of him on a bridge. The bridge is significant because he discovered the remains of a newborn baby underneath the bridge many years ago. I was just a toddler when he discovered the body. They never discovered its identity. It rests in an unmarked grave in the local cemetery. I took all three photos.

He was a veteran of WWII. The honor guard at his funeral gave the flag to us. My daughter gave me the case for Father's Day. Hanging from the case are his U.S. Army dog tags from his time in the service. Also hanging from the case are my dog tags from my time in the U.S. Air Force. There is an envelope underneath the case containing a list of the medals he was awarded during his time in the Army. I do not know what happened to the original medals. I never saw any of them.

He worked for the John Deere Manufacturing Company and retired after 30 years. There is a gold pin on the case honoring his 30 years of service. There is also a John Deere tractor key chain and a cap with his name tag. Another cap is an Amish style that he liked. He was friends with many of the Amish community. They are hanging from a hat/coat rack that belonged to him. He used to take his granddaughters to the Old Thresher's Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa and there are four buttons from those trips. A glass bookcase serves as the resting place for all these items. It was his bookcase.

On the wall above the bookcase is the Morgan name crocheted by his late sister. She crocheted it for me. She crocheted one for all members of her immediate family. She was a fine woman. Also on the wall is a thermometer with the photo of my maternal great grandfather.

He was a St. Louis Cardinal fan so I included some of my Cardinal memorabilia. This will be my entry for the current contest. I again apologize for such a long narrative.