to my father

with father's day coming up (and having arrived)  i have been thinking a lot about my dad.
let's be honest- i think a lot about my dad most of the time.
i would like to share a few things about my dad.

dad you taught me how a man should treat a woman.
you have always taken such good care of my mother and us- your 5 daughters (and a son).
because of the way you treated me i never let a man mistreat me.
thanks dad.

(photo credit= faun jackson)

dad thanks for having a way of telling me exactly what i need to hear so that i want to hear it.
you have a way of giving advice that i have never experienced before.
it's an art that few have mastered.
you can tell me something i would otherwise act defensively about, but for some reason don't.
because of this i always felt like i could come to you about any and everything.

since you worked so hard-
i learned how to work hard.
"work with your mind, not with your back."
i'm grateful you worked with your back dad.
growing up on a farm was the childhood of dreams.
but in turn thanks for encouraging me to get an education so i could choose back labor.
by teaching me this i also learned the value of school/education.
thanks dad.

"don't let books get in the way of your education."
this is the finest college advice you could have ever given me. (everyone should hear it.)
thanks for teaching me the value of learning lessons via living life.
because you taught me this i've developed a passion for experience.

you're a patient man dad.
i'll always be grateful for how patient you were with me in all my weakness.
there couldn't be a finer example of this attribute.

"kids come different."
thanks for accepting me for me.
for valuing my different.
for giving me the type of environment so my different could blossom.
i never questioned the person i was because you did.
i always wanted to become the best me i could be because of you.

dad thanks for being tender and kind and gentle and meek and good; you are everything a person hopes to become.
it's precisely all the qualities a man with 5 daughters needed. (hence the reason we are yours.)

"you're just as good as every body else, but you're not a damn bit better."
one of my favorite quotes of all time.
because you constantly reminded me of this truth i learned countless valuable lessons.
this is a motto that if the world lived by heaven would exist.
from this motto
i learned to love those around me.
i learned the acceptance of difference.
i learned self confidence minus arrogance.
i learned compassion.
i learned how to communicate with everyone around me regardless of their situation.
it's a priceless lesson you taught me.
a lesson that keeps giving and giving and giving.
thank you dad.

thanks for driving me to school and my siblings too.
even if it was a block away.
i knew you loved me because you did.
i also learned i was worth a bit of manly pampering.

dad- you're the strongest man i know.
natural brute strength that's laced with the kindest soul.
i never feared a thing, and i never feared you either. (well a handful of times when it was totally deserving.)

(photo credit= faun jackson)

"just come home."
since you and mom always said this i knew i had a haven to run to.
thanks for helping me avoid situations i never wanted to find myself in because i knew i could just use going home as an excuse.

"go ask your mom."
a perfect response to a want to be sly teenager/kid.
thanks for teaching me the art of parental collaboration.
you also taught me the importance of supporting a spouse- which has helped me be a better spouse.

let me be honest- there are a million and one things i could thank you for/say about you.
of all the people i know you are the one that's truly mastered life- nearest to perfection in my eyes.
it's even sweet that you're a home body and fear some of the mostly unlikely things.
i adore you. (all of us do.)
you're my dad.
the only dad for me.

because of you, i am me.

i love you very much father.

happiest of father's day!