Dad

I found this in my drafts folder from April of 2011. I'm sure I never published it because I meant to add more memories.  Since it's over six years old and I haven't finished it, I think I'll leave it as is and hit publish.


Sunday's do something to me.  They get me thinking about all the blessings I enjoy and the wonderful life I have.  And that's good because sometimes by the time Tuesday rolls around I've already forgotten about it all.

Today I have been thinking of my Dad.  I am so lucky.  I think I have the best Dad ever.  He is wise, he is kind, he is fun, he is gentle, he is patient.  And much more.

If I had to pinpoint some of my favorite memories of my Dad it would be these:

When he would come home from work we would race out to his truck trying to be the first to get our hands on his leftover snacks from the day.  A watered down pop and Zingers, or some type of Hostess snack.

Tickling us with his whiskers.

Sleeping with us outside on the trampoline.  Even though he would go back in the house after we were all asleep.

Drawing spiders and scorpions on our hands during church.

He and my Mom watch a show every night and he will usually eat a bowl of popcorn with Hot Tamales or Good n' Plenty's.  He also loves black licorice.

Somehow he has managed to create an immunity to motion sickness.  He and his brothers go hunting in Alaska every other year and one of them will videotape the trip.  When they get home that brother will make a copy of it for the others.  It's full of bumpy rides, walking through thick brush, basically lots of motion.  To a normal person, like me, it's nauseating and I can't stand to watch it.  But every morning, and I do mean every morning, at about 5:00 you will find him watching a few minutes of an "A Movie".  They've had to start calling them that because their wives are tired of hearing about it.  He watches with a huge smile and I can see it truly makes him happy.

He has more tolerance than any other person I have ever met.  His truck has a strange quirk.  The blinker is constantly ticking like it's on.  No lights blink, you just get the noise.  It's quite an undertaking to get it fixed so for now he just lives with it.  He says if he can hear it then he knows the radio is too quite.  Now that's tolerance!

He is always available when I need advice, a good story or comfort.

When I was 8 months pregnant with Lucy our A/C went out.  It was June and really hot.  It got to 90 degrees in my house and we finally just accepted that we would have to replace our unit.  Instead my Dad {along with my Mom} drove up to my house, crawled into my attic {with his bad back} and got it running again.  Then they turned around and went home. They drove all that way just to help me out.
It's no secret that he live with horrible back pain.  But he always manages to keep a smile on his face and a good attitude.  You know it is a really bad day because you will find him busy serving someone else.  He will usually make bread for a friend or some yummy soup.

He is a great speaker and people always look forward to hearing the cool stories he will tell.

He taught me a very important lessons once.  On our way home from camping one of my brothers was whistling and it was really bugging me.  I kept asking him to stop but just like a little brother, he wouldn't.  I finally complained to my Dad and he said "don't you think that sometimes you do things that drive me crazy?  I never say anything."  I have tried to remember that and tried to show my kids the same patience.

He truly leads by example.

Waking us up in the morning for prayers and scriptures by saying,  "come for pray-ors!"