In honor of the upcoming Father's Day holiday, I thought I would share a little bit about my old man. And no, he doesn't take offense to the designation "old" and has come to terms with the fact that he no longer gets carded on senior citizen day at the grocery store. At the ripe old age of 76, he still rides his exercise bike regularly, helps out on his farm, goes deer hunting, and gardens tons of delicious vegtables that he shares with me.
Some of the high lights of my dad and me are:
*Him teaching me how to skate, but more importantly how to stop.
*Him making me weed the garden and mow the lawn(s)
*Us driving for 15 hours to visit my brother and family down in Missouri- without music, because "music is annoying"
*Us rollerblading for hours on country roads-this isn't smart as there are lots of rocks.
*Him teaching me how to drive while I practically gave him a heart attack- it was windy that day.
*Him meeting my fiance, Darrin, and promptly putting Darrin to work moving branches and mowing lawn.
*He showed up for and helped me move in and out of every dorm and apartment while I was in college.
*He went to every hockey game and skated at every hockey practice from 3rd grade through senior year.
*Despite sleeping through half of both, he came to both my high school and college graduations.
He has always challenged me to be a stronger, more independent, nicer, and helpful person. He is always available for advice, but lets me make decisions (and mistakes) on my own. He doesn't like asking for help, but knows when he needs it. And I suspect I got my stubborn streak from him, although that might have been passed down from both sides. I couldn't have made it this far without him.
Here's wishing all you dads a happy Father's Day!
~Anne
