06/17/2007

December 2005. My Dad walking me down the aisle at my wedding.

This is one of my very favorite pictures from the wedding...

My Dad and Me.

My Dad. Isn't it funny how genetics play out? They say 50% of my DNA comes directly from my Father. This would explain my blue eyes, my thin figure, my sense of humor (sometimes unfortunately), and my generosity. It would also explain my restlessness, my love of change, and my ADD. These last three traits must be dominant genes, because my brother got all those things, too!

It is funny what memories last vividly into adulthood and what memories fade. As today is Father's Day, I was recalling some of my favorite memories of childhood with Dad. Some of these things are so goofy that I've no idea why I cherish them:

-Turtles. When I was young...I would guess early elementary school...my Dad rescued a turtle from certain demise on the freeway. Kyle and I played with (read: tortured) that turtle for the longest time. We sent the turtle down the slide in our backyard and, splash!, into the kiddie pool which we had positioned at the bottom. We picked him up by his tail. We loved that turtle! I remember this turtle as though it happened multiple times. In reality, it may have only been once. I'm not sure. To my memory, rescuing turtles was my Dad's primary job.

-Rollerblades. This may have happened when we were living in Iowa. Time is distorted...so don't read these memories as though I'm putting them in chronological order. They are just being listed as they come to mind. Dad has had a 'change jar' for as long as I can remember. I think it originally held apple cider. I think I've only once ever seen Dad empty that change jar...and do you know what he decided to spend that money on? New rollerblades for Kyle and me. They were the newest, greatest thing...and Kyle and I loved using our rollerblades.

-Christmas. My Dad always broke the rules at Christmas. I may have the story wrong, but it seems that for almost as many years as I can remember my Dad and Mom have set a limit for the amount they would spend on each other at Christmas. Sometimes they would agree to get nothing for each other and other times they would just set a limit. Dad never obeyed the rules. Mom did. That's just how she is. But not Dad. Usually he bought Mom earrings...and nice ones! 14ct gold from a fancy department store. Sometimes we were let in on the secret and we loved it! We knew that Mom had followed orders and only planned to stick a sleeve of golf balls in Dad's stocking...but Dad had these fancy-schmancy earrings to give her anyway. In little and big ways Dad showed us what it looked like to cherish your spouse.

-Also speaking of giving (which comes naturally to my Dad), I remember other times at Christmas where Dad would come home and announce, out of the blue, that as a family we were going to bless somebodies socks off. I always jumped right in and wanted to help because I loved this kind of thing, too. It seems like one Thanksgiving we took a meal to a family who didn't have much. And we didn't just stick in the basics, we got fun things. Extras. Maybe even gifts for the kids. Another year we put together a huge basket of gifts for some family friends. We knew they were going to have an incredibly lean Christmas, so off to Meijer's Dad and I went to put together a Christmas for this family. Dad modeled generosity repeatedly throughout the years. He still models it.

I have tons of fond memories of my Dad. As an adult I am also able to look back and recognize his integrity, work ethic, faithfulness, and commitment. We have cried together...sometimes for sad or hard things...a lot of times because we were laughing so hard we couldn't help ourselves. I think that is the kind of Dad that every kid wants...the kind of Dad who is there through thick and thin.

Happy Father's Day, Dad! I love you so much and am thankful for the part that you play in my life!