The Last Father-Son Road Trip -A Loving Memorial to my Father

The Last Road Trip with my father, Harold Rosen, before he passed last November, was one of the best. At the time (Feb. 2020), I didn’t think it would be the last trip, but I also kind of knew future trips would be hard based on his health and living situation.

The Old Man and I went to my niece’s wedding in the Florida Panhandle about a month before COVID shut everything down, and we decided to make a road trip of it.

As I left home for the Navy 2 weeks after HS graduation in 1979 and never really spent any significant time back home post-Navy after that, I never had a lot of opportunities for adult time with my dad. So this Father – Son road trip became even more meaningful for me.

We took our time from South Florida to the wedding in Destin. We were in no rush. Lots of hours of driving and things to catch up on, talking about life in general. I did all the driving, fueled by coffee. At night we would eat well and have a whiskey or two as a night cap.

The wedding was beautiful and my niece was stunning. As the father of the bride was not invited to the wedding, my father and I represented the Rosen side of the family.

The day following the wedding we took off to visit the USS Alabama, a WWII battleship and museum docked in Mobile, Al. As luck would have it one of the volunteers was not only retired Navy, but served on the same ship as I did, USS Niagara Falls. So the retired Master Chief gave my father and I a personalized VIP tour of the Alabama.

On the way back to South Florida, we spent a night in Plant City, Fl, where an old Navy buddy of mine lives. We took a tour of the town’s train museum before heading home the following day.

This was my last trip with him and one of the last times I saw him alive, because my family of origin denied me any opportunity to say goodbye to my father, based on lies and conspiracy theories which I will not dignify nor comment on.

However, I will always remember the Last Road Trip I took with him and the memories which can never be taken away.

A great road trip with a great dad. This post is dedicated to Harold Rosen and is posted on his birthday,

Love you , Old Man.

Alec J. Rosen

for more information, please visit https://haroldrosen.com.