Salute to My Dad

Dad's 80th Birthday Party

On this Father's Day, I want to salute my dad.  He turned 80 this year, and we've spent some time looking back at his life.  Here are some of the things we remembered about Dad.

In his youth my dad faced some significant challenges.  At the age of three he was severely burned on one leg in a fire at his home.  His mother was also burned over a significant part of her body, and they were both in the hospital for many months.

Dad also had a lot of trouble with one of his eyes.  He told me he had surgery on it when he was a kid.  His dad took him to the hospital and just dropped him off for the surgery.  No one stayed with him.  That's just how things were back then.  It amazing to think of it today.

When he was dating my mom, he drove her and my aunt and a friend to Kentucky to visit relatives and they had a bad wreck.  A truck crossed the center line and hit them.  My dad had a significant injury to his arm and you can still see the effects of it today.

Through all this I know my dad as someone who overcame these difficulties and who went on to work hard all his life and build a good life for us all.  I am thankful for his perseverance in the face of trials.  As he has grown older he has worked hard to deal with his physical limitations.  He had both knees and one shoulder replaced and worked like a champ to do his rehab and stay as active as he possibly can.   Even now, I don't think he's ever happier than when he's riding his tractor and working in his garden. 

Looking back at Dad's life I am always thankful that he worked so hard to make a good living and a good life for our family.  He worked at a dairy and I often think of him in his white work clothes and paper hat.  I can't open the dairy case at the grocery store without fondly remembering the smell on his clothes when he came home.

Some of my fondest memories of my dad are from the vacations he took us on.  Each year we got to take a fun family vacation.  We went to Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, and Missouri, and our most daring trip took us to the World's Fair in Montreal, Canada in 1967.  After I got married and moved to Tennessee we spent several years vacationing together at Fall Creek Falls where we would get one of the fishermen's cabins.  

I am thankful for a dad who made my childhood so idyllic and who gave me a secure and loving home to grow up in.  I am very thankful he's still around and that he is continues to be at work in my life.  He has been there for me countless times and I love him very much for all he means to me.