Happy Father's Day!

In honor of Father’s Day I wanted to write a blog about all of the wonderful Fathers in my life. This list includes my Dad, my Father in law, my two Grandpas, my brother, who became a father in the past year, and of course, Richard, who is the best father to our sons that I could have ever asked for. However, while I am so blessed to have these great men in my life, I realized that this blog was going to be super duper long. So rather than only being able to write a few sentences about all of these awesome dudes, I decided to devote a very long blog solely to my Dad.

My Dad made an effort from the very beginning to be an active participant in the lives of both my brother and myself. Four times a year we each got to go on a “Dad and Me” day with him, where we would basically just go to lunch or do something fun like that, but it was a chance to have some one-on-one time with Dad, where we didn’t have to fight for his attention, and he got to keep up with all the fascinating things that happen in the lives of four- and five-year-olds. My Dad also read to us every night. Some of my most loved stories I first discovered during nighttime readings with Dad: Indian in the Cupboard and Where the Red Fern Grows were two of my favorites. I remember he would get really into the stories, making up voices for each character and he would change his vocal inflection with the story’s drama; he made the books come alive for us.

Maybe it was those books that sparked my love for writing. From a very young age I began writing my own stories, and illustrating pictures to go along with them. I remember that I wrote my first thriller novel about a young girl named Rrrrebecca Danger (yes, that is how I spelled her name). While the main plot escapes me now, I remember it was supposed to be a pretty exciting, on-the-edge-of-your-seat story. Well, I came home one day, to find that my Dad had taken my written copy of it, and had his secretary type it up on a tyepwriter, and BIND it. Ohmigod. I thought my book had actually been published, like, for real. I was ecstatic! It was such a wonderful surprise, and meant the world to me that he would care enough about my story to do all of that, (I can only imagine the look on his secretary’s face though, when he handed her my notes, written in a first-grader’s language. She was probably like, “You want me to whaaaat?”).

My Dad has always been encouraging though. He has always told us we could do whatever we wanted, and that nothing was unattainable. When I was 10, I painted a watercolor picture of the Edmonds waterfront and ferry. My Dad loved the picture so much that he had me sign the original and hung it in his office. That wasn’t all though, he convinced me to make copies of it, and then sell them outside the Edmonds Library. I thought it was a great idea, but couldn’t understand why people who weren’t related to me didn’t seem to have any interest in buying my paintings?? (By the way, that original painting still hangs in his office, to this day).

Some of my favorite memories are the times that I got to hang out with my Dad, just the two of us. The summer before sixth grade, I went to bed one night, only to find a huge spider in my closet. Well, obviously there was no way I was going to be able to get to sleep with that evil arachnid watching me with its eight eyes, so I crept to my parent’s bedroom door and knocked lightly. I was hoping to have my mom come kill it, while not waking up my Dad. My Dad is a super light sleeper though, so he woke right up. Crap! I figured he would yell at me to go to bed and deal with it. I was pleasantly surprised though, when he got up, killed the spider, and then invited me to make some nachos with him and watch the Dick Van Dyke show. It was so awesome! Another time I fondly remember hanging out with my Dad, was when I had to pick out a formal gown to wear to the Tolo Dance in 11^th grade. My mom had always been the one to go dress shopping with me, but for some reason, she couldn’t make it that day, so my Dad came along. He could have easily acted uninterested or bored, but instead he took a real interest in hearing what I was looking for in a dress, and in the end, he actually picked out the one I bought. Out of all of the formal gowns I ever wore, that one is hands-down my favorite. It was such a unique and fun experience, I will never forget it.

My Dad has always been there for me. He is so good at showing his love and support. During college, my boyfriend of a year and a half broke up with me quite suddenly (and over the internet, loser!), and since I had just moved over a thousand miles away from home, to attend school in Montana, I was pretty broken up. A few weeks later, my parents flew out for a quick visit. I remember one night we all went out to dinner and they knew I was still feeling a little down about the break up, and my Dad told me he had a present for me, that he was hoping would brighten my mood. He then handed me a little jewelry box, and inside was a beautiful ring, in my birthstone, Aquamarine. It was so pretty, and just the fact that my Dad had picked it out himself, with the intention of trying to bring me a little happiness during a dark time, was so incredibly sweet.

I remember also, when I found out I was pregnant with Jacob. It was a little stressful, since Richard and I were not married yet. We knew our parents would be disappointed and upset, and we knew we had let them down. I was dreading telling my parents the news, especially since Richard was out of town and I had to do it alone. I knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation with my mom, but I was TERRIFIED to tell my Dad. I imagined all of the worst things he might say or do. When he found out though, my Dad simply shrugged, and said, “Well, that’s life”. I was absolutely shocked at his response, I didn’t even know what to say, because that was the very last thing I expected. My Dad is a great example of unconditional love and acceptance of ones child. I know that no matter what I do in this life, he will always support, encourage, and love me. He has taught me so much, simply through his actions, as to the kind of parent I want to be to my own children.

Aside from being a terrific Dad though, he has led a full and exciting life. My Dad has so many accomplishments to his name. I have watched him leave a career that he loved and was very skilled at for twenty years, to risk everything to try his hand at a new career in the private sector. He has truly excelled in his new profession, and he has shown me that it is important to take chances, and to believe in yourself.

I am also proud of him for his most recent achievements in aviation. Just this weekend he passed some very difficult tests, and got his Commercial Rating. He is so brave and smart! I mean, I have seen some of his piloting videos and I’m pretty sure there is no way I could store all that information in my brain (especially not when flying thousands of feet in the air)!

In truth, I could go on and on about my Dad. His warmth, friendliness and generosity are unmatched. He’s been an amazing example to my brother and me over the years, and sometimes I just sit back and marvel at how truly lucky I am to have been blessed with him as a father. I had so many friends over the years whose fathers walked out on the family, or were absent from their lives in one way or another, but my Dad was never too busy to get involved, or find out what was going on in my life, even when he was traveling or away from home, he was still ever-present.

Dad, if you can’t tell from this novel of a blog I wrote, I think you are pretty awesome. I can’t tell you how much I admire you and how very much I love you. Thank you for being the best Dad I could have ever hoped for. Have a Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day to all the great men in my life, you are each terrific fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many awesome men, and I hope you all have a terrific day, as you each deserve it!