Happy Father's Day

This Father's Day was pretty hard on me. I think last year I had a nice layer of shock to cushion any emotion for the day. This year that shock is gone and I felt every bit of the sadness and loss, mostly in the weeks leading up to it than on the actual day.

My dad did a really good job as far as being a father goes. He gave our family (and the family he had with his first wife) a really good life. He did the best he knew how and I appreciate everything he ever did or gave up for us to have such an enjoyable life. I am so grateful I was able to understand and appreciate this and tell him so while he was alive! He certainly wasn't perfect but at least the theory was good, even if [more often than not] the execution was horrible.

So. Here's to MY DAD - the man who made me lay bricks for a fireplace at 6 years old, who made me hang drywall, kitchen cabinets and roof shingles throughout my life so that I would appreciate getting a college education, and then put me through college. Here's to MY DAD, who took us on fishing trips and all sorts of boating adventures. Here's to MY DAD, the man who would rather hay the meadows and plant apple trees than sit in an office, the man who made me go down moguls (and all sorts of other things I never thought I could do), the man who named three boats after me.

Happy Father's Day, Dad. You did a great job.