Daddy

This is my favorite picture of my daddy with me--and my sister in the background! I'm guessing I'm about 3 yrs old (my mother crocheted my dress!) My daddy loved me unconditionally but it took losing him to fully understand that.

He's been gone from this earth for some time but it doesn't seem like that long. In his later years he had to deal with Parkinson's and it hampered his love for fishing. Well, it pretty much interferred with his life, period. But today, I'd like to remember the fun things he did as my daddy.

He had a very good sense of humor and I think that's where mine comes from! He always made snowmen with me whenever it snowed, I never remember him yelling at me. When he came in to wake me up, he usually tickled my feet and said time to get up sleepy-head! Sometimes, while watching tv, he'd get an apple and use his pocket knife to peel it. I'd wait unil he got the first bite, then I'd ask him for a piece and about the second or third piece, he'd smile and tell me, you know there's more apples in the kitchen and I'd smile and say I only wanted alittle bit while continuing to ask for more until his apple was gone! We did that over and over and he never got mad or told me to get my own.

Sometimes I'd fish with him. He'd try to teach me to cast my line out but after I "caught" him a time or two, I think he was thinking he might end up with a lure attached to him somewhere! So we tried not to stand too close to each other! I have lots of pictures of me holding up a big, dead fish! He never got tired of talking about fishing and I believe he remembered every fish he caught! Especially the big ones! He also seemed to remember what he was using when he caught them, too! He liked to eat them as much as he liked catching them....and he knew how to clean them! (most important!) Watching him clean them held no interest for me! yuk But they were good to eat, except for the bones!

When I was getting ready to take my driving test, we were out on a local highway and a dog ran across the road and I swerved to miss it! When he could talk again, he said don't.. ever.. do ..that.. again! He also went on to explain how I could end up in an accident and maybe get hurt or worse. Bless his heart, I think I really scared him! heh

Daddy was not just a good daddy, he was a good man. We always went to church and I don't just mean Sunday services. We went to Sunday school. main Sunday service, Sunday night, Wednesday night, VBS, and any other service that was going on! There was no swearing except for an occasional hell or damn and his drink of choice was a Coke.

The last thing I did for Daddy was take his glasses off, tuck them inside his jacket and kiss him goodbye, forever.