Happy 82nd, Dad

My dad turns 82 on April 24th.

(Everyone deserves to be remembered like this when they turn 82.)

Of my many memories with Dad those when I was very little are some of my fondest.

(Dad and me)

I remember . . .


1. . . . riding on Dad's back, like a horse, around the frontroom at 1365 (as we refer to our parents' first home).
2. . . . Dad harmonizing as we sang "Oh, Do You Know the Muffin Man" on our way home from my piano lesson. I felt pretty cool carrying my own part, even if it was the melody.
3. . . . Dad reading Prince Valiant to us each week from the Sunday Funnies. He had a distinct way of snapping the newpaper centerfold to stiffen the paper so he could hold it up to read to us.
4. . . . Dad letting me (I was oldest) stay up with him to watch the late night TV shows-The Mummy, Frankenstein, Dracula, and our favorite, Tarzan with Johnny Weismiller. Dad would let me get a dill pickle to eat while we watched.
5. . . . clinging to each door frame we passed through as Dad carried me into bed. When I think back on it it must have been a game for Dad because he let me do it every night.
6. . . . Sunday nights as a family around the TV. Dad popped the popcorn on the stove in the Revereware frying pan. We watched the Disney family movie then Gunsmoke then Bonanza. It was a ritual.
7. . . . watching Dad make his own arrowheads for bow hunting. Mom would bottle his catch for winter.
8. . . . eating fresh onion sandwiches on buttered bread that Dad had made for him and me.
9. . . . Dad purposely scaring us kids by speeding the car up to 50 mph.
10. . . . Dad coming in the door from work at the same time every evening.

Dad gave me security and self-esteem when I was little. He instilled in me a love of great music and an interest in how the world works. He taught me to think for myself and to make right choices amidst peer pressure. He taught me to love and cherish America and our constitution. He took me to Church and taught me about my Heavenly Father. My dad and I have spent hundreds of hours through the years talking and philosophizing about everything.

Thank you, Dad for all you've given me. I love you.