I cannot even begin to explain how fortunate I feel to have grown up with 2 amazing parents. My heart hurts for the kids that do not get this experience, and also for the parents that have to absorb both roles as a single parent. I can say with my whole heart that I am the person I am today because of the examples I was surrounded with from my mother and father. I'm thankful to grow up HOPING to be more like my mom & dad, rather than making a list of what NOT to become.
My Dad is like no other. He is truly the most amazing person I've ever met {besides my Mom}.
He has the BIGGEST heart of anyone I know. He is not afraid to show his emotion, which I admire in a man, and also not afraid to share his love for the Lord. He set such an amazing example for me being a young dad going to Bible Study with my mom, and taking us to church every Sunday. One of the best gifts God gave my dad is that he loves people, and wants to help & serve them. One of the best things he ever told me was that he didn't like his previous job as a manager for his department in a drafting role because he had to fire people. He didn't have the heart to do this. He got to know his employees, he knew they had families, bills, and he couldn't be the one to make that decision to let them go. He is so tenderhearted & gentle, I just love that about him. Thankfully all he had to do to discipline me growing up was look at me wrong, and I'd turn into a crying mess {except one time he had to ground me for hitting the neighbor girl with my jump rope}. He treats my mom with respect, and he might not always tell her enough, but the way he talks about her just makes my heart melt. He is SO proud of her, and supports her in anything she does. It is just amazing to have the privilege to grow up with my parents still being married, and still loving one another. He also has a huge heart for animals, sometimes I think he loves the dogs just as much as my brother and I. He knows more about fish, birds, dogs, you name the creature, than I could ever fathom to know.
He values FAMILY. As a young kid he took the bus, alone, to WI as much as he could to spend time with his Grandma and Grandpa. Even as an adult he took the time to visit them, care for them, write to them, and love them. When I came along, growing up he would always ask me to go on dates, I still regret the day that I thought I became "too cool" for these, because they were SO special. Father daughter day at work was my favorite day of the year. He took time on his lunch breaks to come home and eat with Mom and I, any second he could, he spent it with family {unless he was on the boat fishing}. He would always come home from a long day at work excited to see me {and all his daycare kids}, let us jump to him from the top step, wrestle, and be loud and crazy when he probably just wanted to sit and relax!
He is the most TALENTED person I've ever met. Seriously... he can do anything. From fishing, to training animals, to fixing cars/boats, to construction. He was never trained to be a handyman, he taught himself. He can fix anything, and makes working with angles on the miter box look easy {seriously NOT easy}. I loved sitting in the garage growing up while he was working on something... I'd make the most hideous creation with scrap wood, nails, screws, markers, and he would proudly display it somewhere in the house, or in his office.
And most importantly he is the best example of PERSEVERANCE. He made even the hard times growing up seem so seamless. Probably because he enjoys the SIMPLE things in life. He taught me doing what makes you happy will make your soul richer than any amount of money ever could. He left his job of 25+ years as a mechanical engineer to pursue what made him happy: helping people and fixing things. Using his God given gift, not sitting behind a computer screen and firing his friends. That transition wasn't easy by any means, but he never gave up, never looked back, and ALWAYS made it work. He has been given SO many reasons to give up, be unhappy, but he never lets that get to him. He has lost a lot of his hearing, and I know that can be SO frustrating for him, but he never complains. He still finds things to be thankful for. His joints have no cartilage, yet he works with heavy tools at a physical job DAILY and barely ever mentions he hurts. He's gotten his tool trailer broken into, had the trailer break off his truck, his boat broken into, had a giant house fire, but yet even through all those things {that I would be so down about}, he always finds something to be grateful for. When his tool trailer fell off his truck and broke, his response was "I'm so thankful I didn't hurt anyone"... not "I lost a few days of work, it will be too expensive to fix, this ruined my day... {all the things I would be thinking}." In the same month this year he lost his Best Friend Steve to cancer, and also his Mom unexpectedly, but he never once couldn't find something to give thanks to the Lord for, even through those horrible times.
We might not have grown up with a lot of money, but I would've never know because it was always a house with needs met & hearts & belly's full. and he has taught me that THAT is all you need. Sure, he isn't perfect, he has a temper {that I inherited}, he might have forgotten some mother's days, birthdays, etc., he tried to teach the daycare kids what poison ivy was by GIVING us poison ivy.... but in my eyes he is perfect.
Happy Fathers Day Dad
Love, Your Princess
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