Local dads remember Father’s Day

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Elna Seabrooks
FAMILY TIES — David Thurston, back left, recalls his most memorable Father’s Day when his wife Christine, back right, was in grave condition as was his youngest son, Everett, middle, who was born prematurely in 2005. With them are twin brothers Benjamin, left, and Oliver. 
By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Father’s Day through the good times and the rough times may be recalled Sunday as families gather to honor and celebrate the men who played significant roles in the lives of their spouses, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, neighbors and friends.
    Locally, several men shared heartfelt and heartwarming moments with the Pioneer Times.
David Thurston
    Last Wednesday, David Thurston, his wife Christine, their twin boys and youngest son were on their way to an evening church service. David Thurston said, “I think the best part about Father’s Day is being a father with loving children and having them around me. God has blessed me with three beautiful children and a lovely wife.”
    June 9 the family had been celebrating Everett’s fifth birthday. He is the Thurstons’ youngest son. And, five years earlier the newborn’s life and his mother’s hung in the balance. Their future was fragile, at best.
    David Thurston said “Probably my most memorable Father’s Day was when Everett was brought down from the neo-natal intensive care unit to the intensive care unit where my wife was. She was able to hold the baby because a few days earlier, we didn’t know if they would live. Everett had just been born. He was just a few days old. He had been born eight weeks premature and my wife Christine was struggling for her life as well.”
    Today, Everett is a lively and very strong 5-year-old who manages to keep up with his 8-year-old twin brothers. All three are home schooled by their mother, Christine, while David is at work. (See Kids Say for their thoughts on Father’s Day.)
    Other fathers shared thoughts of growing up with their fathers and of becoming fathers.
Merlon Louie Tomah
    Merlon Louie Tomah is an elder in the Houlton Band of  Maliseet Indians. He said he and his wife, Rose, have three girls: “They are all grown up and they live down country. I suppose they will give me a call on Father’s Day.”
    Tomah said he lost his father when he was just 15. “Growing up I worked with him in the woods. He was cutting pulp. He was a woodsman and I enjoyed working with him. He had a lot of knowledge about the woods and he passed it on to me. I was hired to cut down a bunch of trees. And, with what he taught me I brought it to work and I showed another guy how to do it.”
Brian Raymond
    Brian Raymond of Houlton has two daughters, 14 and 18, and one son, 11. He said now he knows what his father went through. “I think it’s different having girls than having boys. I talk to them and tell them about what I was going through when I was growing up,” said Raymond. He added that peer pressure is “pretty rough. There is more stuff to deal with now and I hope to keep them on the straight and narrow.”
    In this article he sent out a message: “Happy Father’s Day, Dad” because he’s a good father.
    Raymond and his two brothers, over the years had celebrated the day by giving gifts like hats and shirts. One was monogrammed: “World’s greatest father.”
    So far this year, Raymond hasn’t settled on a gift because his own father is “hard to shop for now.”
Michael Connors
    Michael Connors lives in Houlton with his wife, Elizabeth, and their sons Lucas, 1, and Adam, 6. Connors said he thinks “just being together as a family is important.”
    “I remember Father’s Day when I was a kid. We were just there for my Dad for whatever he needed and tried to help around the house. I always get him a card. He’s down in Ellsworth and I’ll probably see him. We have a very good relationship. He was someone to look up to,” said Connors.
Brad Berthiaume
    Brad Berthiaume has a son, Miles, who will turn 2 this year on June 20 — Father’s Day. Brad’s wife, Sarah, said her husband was putting together a swing set when she took a photo of them. “Miles kept grabbing the parts and organizing them in his own fashion in another part of the yard. Brad had to find everything to put the swing set together, It was a lovely bonding experience for the two of them,” explained Sarah Berthiaume.
    “It’s fun to see the little guy running around. The responsibility is there. But, so is the fun and joy of parenting and being a father. It’s very rewarding to be a father and see all the new experiences and the curiosity and to be able to explain things and to help your son learn,” said Brad Berthiaume. “My relationship with my own father has always been real good and he has always been helpful in teaching me things that I need to know to be a good son and a good father,” he added.
Stuart Tomah
    Stuart Tomah said he didn’t have any real memories of Father’s Day. He explained that they “were a poor family. Now, I have two boys and one girl. I get a card from both of my sons. It means closeness to family and knowing that your kids do care about you that they give you a card.”
Robert Wright Jr.
    Barbara Folsom of Houlton talked about her father with great love, admiration and respect. She has two younger siblings — a brother and a sister. She recalled that when she was 15, she gave her father, Robert Wright Jr. a Zippo lighter engraved: “To Dad, love Barb.” Although he has long since given up smoking,  “he still has it. It’s a little worn. But, you can still see what it says.”
    Folsom, an adult with a family of her own, a daughter, 13, and a son, 12, said she appreciated all her father had done for the family and “he may not have had a lot of family time because of work, but his presence was there. He’s a great guy and I love him. If I had to go back and be reborn, and if I had a choice of who my Dad would be, I would pick him.”
    With such compelling recollections, naturally, the paper needed a photo of Wright who is a senior operator at the Houlton Water Company. A quick call to the office alerted Nancy Williams about the situation.
    “What time does the office close?”
    “Four thirty.”
    “What time is it now?”
    “Four-thirty.”
    “Tell Bob Wright I’m on my way and listen for me at the door.”
    A nearly undercover operation soon unfolded. Williams and Roger McBride, Wright’s coworker, were at the door to support “Operation Get Wright’s Photo” with smiles and good cheer.
    Unaware of the glowing testimony of his eldest daughter, and also uninformed that he was about to be photographed, he took it in like a champ and agreed.
    Several photos later, he was asked how he will spend and remember Father’s Day. Folsom had said her father was “quite a character.” She was right.
    A wide smile came over his face. Then, with a deep, hearty and contagious laugh, he responded: “All I can think of now is revenge.”
    What practical joke could he be thinking up? It’s sure to be a good one for their memory books.
    Happy Father’s Day to all the good-natured and loving men and their families who contributed to this article and, of course, the Pioneer Times’ readers.