Teamster Daddy was the ultimate protector.

On our annual Gulf Coast vacation T-Daddy would take his T-Daughters out in the ocean and swing us around on floats - he loved to play and have fun but he said this was to protect us from sharks. We believed him. I can totally picture him punching a shark in the nose. The shark would have been very, very afraid. My T-Sister remarked that his beachside protection brought a whole new meaning to the term swimming with sharks. There are sharks in the world. He told us so and some of them we have had to fearfully discover on our own.

Teamster Daddy could have coined the phrase "I've got your back". Notorius for his "Fight Club" skills, Teamster Daughters truly cringe to think of the many fights he actually participated in. Not that this is anything to brag about, but a true statement. He may have had an altercation or two that resulted in broken leg or arm, a few scratches, but Teamster Daddy never lost a fight.

One thing to make clear - no one messed with T-Daddy - no one messed with the IBT Brothers on his watch - no one messed with his sisters, wife and NO ONE messed with Teamster Daughters. Period. End of Story.

Kids in the burb who lived down the street, rode the bus, went to school, pool, would be a fool to mess with us. And they pretty much knew this. Teamster Daddy would kick some A if he thought his T-Daughters were being messed with. He made his intentions known to many a T-Daughter suitor that tried to court us - they were half in awe of him and half scared to death of having a relationship with us.

He has stared down many a school principal. Some kids had called me - TD#3 - names on the first day of school - I got off the bus crying. Teamster Family was waiting outside to greet me and saw my tears. T-Daddy picked me up and brought me to his eye level and told me "don't worry about a thing, I'll take care of this problem immediately."

True to his word he drove me to school the next morning parking his T-Ride - the Lincoln Continental - right outside the principal's office for pure intimidation inducing effect. He walked me into school, all 6'2 of him, sat me in the seat next to the school secretary, gave her a wink and opened the door of the principal's office, with a cigarette in one hand, coffee cup in the other, he took a long drag off of the cig before pushing the door closed and I could hear him say "Mr. Principal, we have a problem."

Beyond that I don't know what he said - I just heard my dad talking in the same tone of voice he did in important Teamster phone calls. The principal emerged pasty white and walked down the hall quickly and came right back. My classroom assignment changed as of that moment and no one ever called me Sabrina the Teenage Witch again ever for the rest of of my public school career. The first time someone stands up for you has a profound effect on your life. He was forever sealed in that moment as my personal hero.

The word was out - don't mess with the Teamster's kids.

There were other important times in our lives that he was not there for us, TD#2's high school graduation, dance recitals and he did a no-show at my wedding. Hard to bear and extremely painful, we learned to adapt to this - the union probably needed him more, he had forgotten because he was with his girlfriend, he was being selfish or he simply couldn't face us.

But then there would be other times in the midst of these important missed milestones and we would need him and we would pick up the phone and call him, maybe we were in tears and his little Teamster Girls again and T- Daddy would rise to the occasion and had our back when we needed him.

I miss him now as I find myself in an isolating situation with someone still trying to exert unfounded control over me. With Daddy still in this world, I wonder if it would be happening and it makes me lonely for him. Before he would pass the word down from TD#1 that he's "aware of the situation" and it would be taken care of. However in his absence, the Teamster Daughter in me is coming through and I'm finding my inner T-Daddy toughness, I want to kick someone's ass who is trying to hurt me, but really would love for T-Daddy to do it for me - "Fight Club" style. One of those fights that he enjoyed so much he would unabashedly laugh afterwards. I need him now. I wish he was here, it's a problem only Teamster Daddy could give me comfort and make me feel protected from. He would know exactly how to turn these tables and solve the problem - Teamster Style.