In my investigative memoir Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew (to be released Father’s Day 2025 by Milspeak Books), I write:
“It’s remarkable how something as trivial as a letter, a ring, and some alcohol can allow a father and son to bridge the gap between 1965 and the present, and between this life and the afterlife… I can’t explain it, but we have a drink together in our own magical or spiritual way. I still smile at the thought of it.”
Today, June 23rd, is my father’s 98th birthday, and I’m celebrating it with him the only way I know how.
By the way, my brother remembers my father drinking Old Grand-Dad, which makes multiple appearances throughout my memoir. Although considered a lower-shelf bourbon today, it has dozens of references in the media. If it was good enough for James Cagney in The Public Enemy, John Steinbeck in Travels with Charlie, James Bond in Live and Let Die, and Hank Williams Jr. in “Women I’ve Never Had,” it’s good enough for my father and me.
Here’s to you Dad. Happy Birthday. May you forever be 39 years old.
James B. Wells 
2 replies on “Forever 39”
Damn. This one hit like a straight shot of the 100 proof! My father is forever 59 and his birthday fell on Father’s Day this year. For me a pocket knife, a pistol, or an old photograph can build a bridge. Sometimes I can have a drink with him as well, and while Hank Jr. might sometimes serenade us, too, the sounds of Vern Gosdin and that Quincy Jones theme song for Sanford and Son serve to set the mood just as often.
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Well said Carl. You write like a poet. You ought to do an open-mic some time. I’ll join ya!
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