My Dad...

Even though my mother is the voice in my head, it is my father who is the ground beneath my feet. For this, I am truly grateful.

When I was a little girl, my dad had me convinced that he was a Martian. As I grew, I let this notion drop by the wayside and yet at 50 years of age, I know that if I am from Venus, my dad is definitely from Mars.

There are so many ways that I am different from my dad and so many ways that I am similar. Isn’t that the way it is with parents and their children? So cool.

Some of the things that I learned from my dad are:

·      Never go up or down the stairs empty handed.

·      Everything has a place, find it and always put it back there.

·      Be committed to everything you take on and do it well until it is finished regardless of pay or recognition.

·      Do things slowly and gently.

·      You get what you project. When he called people a pain in the a#*, he got sciatica.

·      He had great faith in me to take care of myself but taught me that he would always be at the end of a phone line and would rescue me from any situation without questions or making me defend myself.

When I was 14 years old and being in a state without any of my own money, I won a contest on the radio winning a family bucket of chicken from KFC, it was called Kentucky Fried Chicken then. I skipped school to redeem my prize so that I could gift my dad with this for his birthday. There was some miscommunication between the station and the restaurant and I never did get that prize but it began to bother me that my dad always gave me so much and I could not give him anything back. Well My Dad, my gift is my words and I hope you know how much you mean to me now, always have and forever will.

I wish that I was with you on this Father’s Day but I will see you soon when my commitments and your commitments collide.

Love

~ buddy

Dad and his Kids at the wedding of Jared & Jana in Jasper in June.