Today, my dad is 50.
There is a lot that can be said about him.
I'll start with one of the most obvious: he is a horrible person to try to find a recent picture of. This is because he is constantly dodging the camera, insisting on being the one to take the picture, or he is moving (he never stops moving unless he is sleeping...and that's not really an attractive picture), or if he catches you focusing a camera on him, he gives you the "If you take that picture, I'll ground you for the rest of your life." glare(which fails more and more, as the majority of his kids have moved out).
Dad is 50 and I am 25. Weird. What is even weirder for me is to think that 25 years ago, Dad was holding his 1 month old first born, thinking about what kind of parent he would be.
Well, 25 years later, let me tell you about the man who raised me. He is the dad who started with nothing, and scratched out a living at every odd job available to provide for his family. For the sake of his family, he did something that likely scared him into needing a change of pants: he went back to school.
He has provided an existence for his kids where they rarely knew they were lacking. If he couldn't buy it at full price, he found it in a yard sale and then fixed it, or if that option wasn't available, he often made toys for us. The toys he made were by far the best toys we have owned.
Deny it as he might, he is a mechanical genius. He looks at something and understands how it works. If anything breaks, Dad can fix it. One of the first phrases learned by the toddlers in our family was "Fik it, daddy." And that rings true not only for dolls whose heads fell off, and action figures who no longer said their phrases, but it continues to ring true for heater cores in a certain vehicle that would have otherwise cost $800 to repair (twice), trucks that need new speakers and engine work, and more.
He took us on the adventures our hearts thrived for: sleeping on a bluff that turned island every time the tide rose, petting the galapagos tortoise at the zoo(if anybody asks, that never happened), deep sea fishing, swinging on the rope chair over the stream.
He drove us hard to match his work ethic when we were working with him. We cursed him for it as teenagers, but learned quickly when we got into the working world that we were ahead of the curve. Because of dad, we tend to earn good reputations within our jobs.
To work with Dad you must learn to be hungry. Dad sees no point in wasting the 15-30 minutes it would take to stop and eat lunch. He has offered to take me out to breakfast, and decided to make a quick stop at the apartments to look at something that needed a repair. Each time we finished one thing, he would see another "small" job that needed to be done. That day, we finally got breakfast at 6 pm. Beware of the breakfast offer!
He loves a good pun....and a bad one. He's a candy monger who loves to share (both his and yours). He loves to scuba dive, especially if he can bring up lobster with him. He and I share the same joy of standing the breeze and pretending we can fly. He loves to give presents, and is the hardest person ever to buy presents for. He is insanely artistic, though he also denies this.
And this blog has reached a point in length that he would probably decide not the waste the time reading it, so I could technically start adding insults in and get away with it, but as today is his birthday, I won't.
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Love,
-Caitlin
There is a lot that can be said about him.
Dad is 50 and I am 25. Weird. What is even weirder for me is to think that 25 years ago, Dad was holding his 1 month old first born, thinking about what kind of parent he would be.
Well, 25 years later, let me tell you about the man who raised me. He is the dad who started with nothing, and scratched out a living at every odd job available to provide for his family. For the sake of his family, he did something that likely scared him into needing a change of pants: he went back to school.
He has provided an existence for his kids where they rarely knew they were lacking. If he couldn't buy it at full price, he found it in a yard sale and then fixed it, or if that option wasn't available, he often made toys for us. The toys he made were by far the best toys we have owned.
Deny it as he might, he is a mechanical genius. He looks at something and understands how it works. If anything breaks, Dad can fix it. One of the first phrases learned by the toddlers in our family was "Fik it, daddy." And that rings true not only for dolls whose heads fell off, and action figures who no longer said their phrases, but it continues to ring true for heater cores in a certain vehicle that would have otherwise cost $800 to repair (twice), trucks that need new speakers and engine work, and more.
He took us on the adventures our hearts thrived for: sleeping on a bluff that turned island every time the tide rose, petting the galapagos tortoise at the zoo(if anybody asks, that never happened), deep sea fishing, swinging on the rope chair over the stream.
He drove us hard to match his work ethic when we were working with him. We cursed him for it as teenagers, but learned quickly when we got into the working world that we were ahead of the curve. Because of dad, we tend to earn good reputations within our jobs.
To work with Dad you must learn to be hungry. Dad sees no point in wasting the 15-30 minutes it would take to stop and eat lunch. He has offered to take me out to breakfast, and decided to make a quick stop at the apartments to look at something that needed a repair. Each time we finished one thing, he would see another "small" job that needed to be done. That day, we finally got breakfast at 6 pm. Beware of the breakfast offer!
He loves a good pun....and a bad one. He's a candy monger who loves to share (both his and yours). He loves to scuba dive, especially if he can bring up lobster with him. He and I share the same joy of standing the breeze and pretending we can fly. He loves to give presents, and is the hardest person ever to buy presents for. He is insanely artistic, though he also denies this.
And this blog has reached a point in length that he would probably decide not the waste the time reading it, so I could technically start adding insults in and get away with it, but as today is his birthday, I won't.
Love,
-Caitlin
I cried and laughed. Thanks
ReplyDeleteVery nice,"what your Mom said". Just know that many of toy/play things came from the imagination of a little girl. She looked at a covered wood storage area and saw a play house, and said "Daddy can you put the door here and the window here and one there, Mom Daddy is building a play house for me" It served it purpose for 20 years. Thanks for a wonderfuly heartwarming birthday card. Love Dad
ReplyDeleteClyde Sanders I could not ask for a better little brother.
ReplyDeleteI agree with every word you said just the fact that one of his own kids took time to do this is a example of his character.
He try's hard to help everyone in every way he can. Including teaching others to help them self's. And Passes on every little bit of knowledge that my help any one in there life's struggle.
He has an endless energy for making things better for all that know him and even the ones don't. With an endless collection of fixable stuff useable stuff and all other kinds of stuff. It pains him to through any fixable thing away but will happily fix it and give it away without a thought.
Actually lives by his code of ethics. No one could ever tell him to practice what he preaches because he teaches by example.
I could not be more proud or love him more than I do. I'm sure Jesus has a special place for him.
Happy birthday
An absolute total *idiot* like me doesn't deserve a best friend like your Dad for going on four decades now. I've typed and re-typed for over thirty minutes but there really is no other way to describe how I feel. Happy Birthday old friend.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful, loving tribute. Yeah Jess. You rock!
ReplyDelete