Your Winning Number

Congratulations, Dad!

You've finally reached your winning number!

 

That's My Dad

Go ahead, take your victory lap and celebrate!!!

Happy Birthday, Dad! We all love you! Go here to check out last year's birthday wish if you haven't seen it yet.

Happy Birthday, Dad

I would like to take a moment to honor my dad, who is celebrating his birthday today.

I was raised as the only girl right in the middle of two older and two younger brothers. I never felt singled out by my parents. In fact, to my dad, I was just one of the guys, or at least I was made to feel that way.

This may seem a strange thing for a daughter to honor her dad for, since most girls want to be their father's little princess. But I was his princess in a different sort of way. I was his Indian princess and his warrior princess. However, I drew the line at dairy princess (an actual position held by teenage girls in the world of dairy farming).

So, Dad, I honor you for the priceless things you taught me that I have tried to pass on to my own children. I will attmept to list a few of them here.

You instilled in me a love for country living and for Native American history.

You took the time to share with me the serenity of a forest, the thrill of a waterfall, the beauty of wildlife all around me.

You taught me how to ride horses and love these beautiful animals.

You taught me how to walk through the woods without making noise, or to paddle a canoe without making splashes so I could catch glimpses of wildlife without startling them.

You taught me how to pick up a crayfish so I wouldn't get pinched, or a snake so it couldn't bite me so I wouldn't be afraid of them.

You taught me how to go out at night with my lantern to pick up night crawlers, bait my own hook, and sit for long periods of time on the bank of a creek, waiting to feel the nibble at the end of my line. Then how to patiently wait until the nibble turned to a tug before hooking the fish.

You taught me how to shoot a bow and arrow, how to plant a garden,  how to milk a cow, and how to drive a tractor, snowmobile and car.

And you taught me that it was important to allow a young man to come to the door when taking me out on a date...something that I balked at since I was used to being such a tomboy.

I guess in your eyes, I was always your princess, even when I was overflowing the bathtub, writing with wax markers on the barn walls, or grinding the gears on the Ford 5000.

You have been a race car driver, a tractor trailer driver, a dairy farmer, a horse farmer, a banjo player, a classic car collector, a firewood businessman, a devoted husband, a wonderful grandpa, and my favorite.......THE BEST DAD IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!!

Thank you, Dad, for teaching me all these things, and so much more! I love you!

Happy Birthday!

Prince Charming is My Father

Cinderella used our house to get ready for the ball last weekend. Except instead of being taunted and ridiculed by her evil stepmother and stepsister, she was fussed over, pampered and polished by her doting mother and older sister.

When she finally emerged from her chambers into full view of Prince Charming, who was eagerly awaiting her arrival, she was radiant, beaming, and yes, giggling.

Prince  Charming, standing tall and proud in his tuxedo, may have had a tear in his eye.

Then, after succumbing to the paparazzi, off they rode in their carriage to dinner and then the ball, to dance and cherish one another for the next few hours.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite a carriage. It was actually my teenage son's new old 1994 Pontiac Sunbird. But the rest of my story is true.

They were on their way to the father/daughter Valentine dance put on by Alleluia Community's Little Sisters program, where every fourth and fifth grade girl became Cinderella for the evening, and every father became her very own Prince Charming.

This may seem silly, but there is such wisdom and richness in the practice of father's "dating" their daughters. Little girls have no idea what it is like to be out on a date, unless they experience it first hand. Fathers can and should teach their daughters what it feels like to be cherished, protected, and loved by a Godly man, and yes, fathers need to model the man they hope their daughters will marry some day. Fathers need to see themselves through their daughter's eyes.

And it is never too early to start. Fathers, cherish your daughters from the moment they are born!

 I will gladly allow my daughters to "date" the second man to earn my stamp of approval.  And to the first man I say, "Thank you, Dad, for setting the bar so high; Andy is so much like you!"