By Sharon Waters
The keyboard appeared one day, an anomaly in the home of two people who had never played an instrument. When I asked my dad about it, he replied that a neighbor who had been a musician most his life was tossing the keyboard because he was too old to play anymore.
So my father, in his mid-80s at the time, set up the keyboard in his family room and began teaching himself notes and chords. What was surprising was that I was momentarily surprised. I shouldn’t have been, because this was just the latest twist in the life of being the daughter of John Waters.
COURTESY THE WATERS FAMILY
After retirement, John Waters penned his memoir about his years as a project engineer at Fort Monmouth.
This memory came to me as I reviewed my COVID to-do list, three months into the pandemic lockdowns. Maybe you had a list, too, of all the things you were going to do now that you had an abundance of time because you weren’t commuting or going to the gym or going to social gatherings or going…anywhere. My list wasn’t lofty: clean out my attic, organize bins of photos, read the 700-page Mueller report. Now, as lockdowns lift, I have nothing knocked off my list (but I did plow through two seasons each of “Homeland” and “Schitt’s Creek”). With the stellar weather and Sea Bright beaches calling, I doubt I’ll be spending much time in my attic now. That’s why I always
look to my father for tips on getting things done and making things happen. At 89 years old, he is a living lesson that age should never be a deterrent to trying something new.
Last year, at 88, my father became an author. He wrote and wrote and wrote. Then he wrote some more. He received rejections from numerous publishers, so he wrote some more. Throughout it all, he refused help from anyone. He did receive a contract with a publisher, but it wasn’t the right fit so instead we published the book through Amazon.
The book, “Aircraft Electronic Warfare: A Memoir by a Project Engineer,” covers my father’s career at Fort Monmouth. He writes about his special projects with the Joint Special Operations Command, Space & Missile Systems Center, NASA, the Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force, and Army Missile Command. I was planning to contact libraries in Middletown, where my father grew up, and Little Silver, where he lived most his life, to ask if we could set up “meet the author” events. My father is especially eager to talk to students about careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Then the coronavirus struck, closing libraries, canceling events and keeping my parents at home.
I have no doubt the pandemic will be only a temporary obstacle for my determined father as he strives to promote his book or achieve any other goal he sets. This Father’s Day, in honor of my dad, I will push myself to try something new. Because I never want to feel too old to play anymore.
Sharon Waters is a native of Little Silver and 1986 graduate of Red Bank Regional High School. She can be reached at SharonAnnWaters.com.
John Waters’ book is available at JohnEdwardWaters.com.
The article originally appeared in the June 18-24, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
