Monday, March 28, 2011
What can I say about the best father in the world? I have so many wonderful memories with my Dad. Family was the most important thing to Dad, other than the Lord. Everything he did, he did it for us, his family. All of the long hours and lost sleep was all for his family.
We always had fireworks when we went to Jackson, Ky for Christmas growing up. It was our little tradition. He would always play Texas Hold'em with us at the cabin at Thanksgiving, another tradition, when he really didn't care for Texas Hold'em. And when he won he would always insist on giving our money back along with gas money to get home. I remember one year for Christmas, he kept trying to get Jeremiah and I to get firewood out of the garage but we didn't want to. We just couldn't figure out why firewood was so important. When we went out to the garage, he had a shiny two seater go-kart for Jeremiah and I. We were so excited. When we went on our family vacations he would always tell Jeremiah and I to ride the go-karts as many times as we wanted, get that extra scoop of ice cream, or whatever we wanted "because we are on vacation."
I guess the cabin in Cumberland was one of his prized possessions. He built it from the ground up and it was built with his family in mind. We had 11 wonderful years completely full of memories with Dad and the cabin. Laughter, good food, cards and games, mud pies, four wheelers, good food, pontoon rides, corn hole, good food, laughter, and good food. He was very proud of his grandchildren! He loved them all and would do anything for them. He always kept his pocket change and divided it up into five jars, with the grandkid's names on them and when it came time, he gave them an envelope full of money for them to put in their savings accounts, which he started for them.
My Dad taught us many things. He often said, "Always make friends, because you never know when you might need them." "Keep your name clean, it's the most important thing you own." "You can tell alot about a person by how clean they keep their car." "Washing your car without cleaning the wheels is like taking a shower without washing your hair." "Your education is very important, don't take it lightly." Those are just a few words of wisdom my Dad bestowed upon us while growing up.
He was the definition of unconditional love. He was very wise, intelligent, caring, patient, handsome, thoughtful, understanding, forgiving, Christian man. As far as I know, Dad never made an enemy, everyone who met him, loved him. The world is a lesser place because of his absence. My heart has a huge hole that will never be filled.
I love you Dad and I'll see you soon.
Sis
