Happy Father's Day

 Happy Father's Day to my dad, who raised me to be independent and strong. There have been many times that my independence put me at odds with him, but I wouldn't be the person I am today without his love and guidance.


Some of his wisdom included:
- When driving in the snow or ice, be patient and let the car do the work.
- If you can anticipate the needs of others, you will be invaluable.
- If you can't tell it's poison ivy by the 3 shiny leaves, stay away from the woods!
- Relationships are not 50-50. One is always going to give a little more or take a little more. Make sure you know where you stand.
- No matter how old you are, you will always be my little girl and I will love you always.

My Favorite Veteran

My dad is the handsome Navy seaman on the far left.

Like Father, Like...Grandson?

My dad is showing Cade how to curl weights. (In this case the weight was a spool of kite string.)

October 28, 1946

My dad's birthday was yesterday. I won't embarrass him by telling you how old he is. (You can do the math!)

I called him last night and the kids and I sang to him. He was very gracious. I talked to him for a while and we caught each other up. He is still flying around the country doing telephone installs for Pepsi. He's hitting the southern states now. He's dating Kelly, a nurse. She took him to a Robert Cray concert and he really enjoyed that. He promised to come see Steel Magnolias, and he's bringing Kelly. He sounded happy.

Before we hung up (so he could watch the Red Sox win the World Series) Cade sang him a personalized rendition of "Happy Birthday". It might have been a bad connection, but I thought I heard a catch in Dad's voice as he told Cade that was the best birthday present ever.