It has been a few years now since my dad passed away, but it is still hard on Father's Day. I miss his voice, his smile, the mischievous twinkle in his eye, his teasing, even his snoring. I truly miss his hugs and the love that he gave. My dad was the best. He would do anything for my me and my sister. He was always there for us.
My dad was a hard working man. He would work two jobs so we could have braces, musical instruments, go on trips etc. He worked 40 - 50 hours at Steelcase in the desk department and then come home gulp down dinner and go to the high-school and worked as a janitor. On top of working he also kept the house and cars up, built things, remodeled the house, and played with me and my sister.
If there was something that me or my sister might want we would give him that look and he would find a way to get it for us. On our birthdays he would always have a gift just from him.. he loved to make it very hard for us to open it. He would put it in a wooden box then layer it with all kinds of stuff, other boxes, lots of duck tape, anything he could think of to make it hard. It would take us a while to open it but it was always worth the struggle!! Sometimes all that would be was a note to tell us to look somewhere else! In the end it usually was a pretty piece of jewelry. He loved to buy jewelry! Sometimes dad and mom would hide a tiny box in the birthday cake.
My dad's childhood was tough. My grandma was very loving but his dad was very tough. He had a very bad temper and my dad could never do anything right. My grandma had to work so my dad was pretty much on his own during the day. They had a garden and my dad was out helping grandpa till it and for some reason grandpa didn't think dad was doing it right or something so he got mad and hit him over the back with a new shovel. The handle broke in half on my poor dads back. You had to be very careful around grandpa. After dad graduated high school he left home and joined the Air Force to get away from it.
Because of what dad dealt with grandpa he never raised a hand on me or my sister. He left the discipline to my mom. This did not make mom to happy being the bad guy all the time.
I remember we wanted a dog and mom was totally against it. Next thing you know, dad is coming home with a little bundle tucked inside of his coat. Poor mom got stuck having to have another dog!
My dad was always taking us somewhere. Every summer he found a way for us to travel. He had a truck and made a homemade camper for the back of it. My sister and I would sleep on the table and my folks on the sides of the camper. It wasn't that comfortable but it worked. We got to see a lot of this wonderful country! Our last trip we made as a family my dad took us though 13 states in less then 3 weeks. It would have been a little longer but it was cut short due to a horse injury. My sister wanted to go on a trail ride and we were in North Dakota. The town we were staying at had trail rides so we went there. For some reason the horses were spooked during the ride and went wild. My poor dad fell off and got stomped on by a couple horses. He ended up with a bruised arm and broken rips. We ended up having to cut the trip short and head home. Even though he was injured he drove all the way home. He wouldn't let poor mom drive.
When I graduated high school I started working at Steelcase. I worked the night shift. Many times dad came to my rescue. We had a blizzard in 1978 and I got snowbound in Grand Rapids because I worked nights the roads were impassable. Dad and mom came and helped dig me out after a couple days to get me back home. Another time I went to an auction with a friend and was dropping her and the items she won back at her apartment. I had my purse in my arms so I sat it in the trunk so I could help get the chair out for her. Well, stupid me not thinking closed the trunk with my purse still in it. Both sets of car keys were in my purse so I was stuck. It was after midnight and I called dad and he came to the rescue. He had to pull the back seat out a bit and with a coat hanger was able to pull my purse out. Needles to say I never had both sets of keys in my purse again!
He was also the best grandpa in the world too. After I had my daughter he was madly in love. He would sit with her for hours rocking her. When Stephanie was a toddler my folks bought her a big play house. She would beg my dad to crawl in there with her so he and my mom would take turns playing in the house with her. He was always making her things. He started buying her stuff and making her furniture for an apartment some day. Stephanie and my dad were so close, he even showed her how to drive.
I miss dad so much, we all miss him. But I know he is around us all the time.
Happy Father's Day Dad....
