Donald Leon Wade, 23 Jan 1942 - 21 Dec 2021
Of his four sons, I had the fewest formative years w/him. But being his one biological son, his effect on me is as profound as for my brothers K*, T*, & A*.
A little 🧵about Dad: scientist, storyteller, home chef, minister's hubby ...
ALT This is a picture of me and my father, circa 1975, in original black & white. I appear about five years old, a white cis boy with straight nearly-white blond hair, bangs cut straight across above my eyebrows. I'm wearing a gray sweatshirt and overalls, probably Oshkosh brand. I'm sitting on my father's lap, one knee forward with foot underneath me, looking down-left toward the camera. My father's arms encircling me appear to be striking a match in front. He and I look much alike, as his only biological son, though his hair is shades darker here and longer, but of a similar shape, as well as nose and mouth and shape of our faces, are all similar. His beard is dark and a little grizzly, and clenched between his teeth is a brown-wood tobacco pipe. His bangs are grown in so the hair has to part above his glasses to see, putting his eyes partially in shadow. He wears a button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up. Light pours through a window behind us, sitting near his student desk & coffee cup.