I mention so often my precious mother who I miss more than words can say, but I am also blessed to have the sweetest father. Ever.
The best thing about my sweet Daddy is that he CHOSE to be my Daddy.
My biological dad and my mother divorced when I was just a baby. My mom remarried when I was about 3 or 4 (my parents’ wedding is one of my first memories and I still have the dress I wore) and I immediately fell in love with him.
When I was about 5 he adopted my sister and I- although he had already been my Daddy in my heart for a long time.
He's a strong, tough, hard working, outdoors loving, hunter, Mr. Fix It, man of few words,
laid back man.
While we were growing up, he owned his own auto repair business and worked long and hard to make it a huge success.
As tough as he is- he has always been tender and sweet with his girls. When we were little he would let us play with his hair and put makeup on him. He even let us paint his fingernails. This tradition has continued with Maddie.
My mother worked in downtown Houston and went to work early each morning so that she could be done by the time we got home from school.
So, my sweet Daddy is the one who always got us up and dressed, fixed us breakfast, and did our hair. He quickly became a master at ponytails and braids.
I so vividly remember sitting and watching Speed Racer and the Three Stooges each morning and eating my breakfast while he did my hair.
He always made me feel special and precious. He even sent me flowers at school on my birthday
and it made me feel like a princess!
My mom was always the disciplinarian while my dad was the laid back one. Growing up he almost never got angry- I can only think of two times in my whole life that he was really
mad at and scolded me. Both of which I very much deserved.
One summer when I was working for him at his shop- answering phones and paying bills,
I had a little accident with our boat.
It's a long story that I won't go into- but basically I backed into our ski boat that was behind the shop. Upon hitting it, the boat then proceeded to roll into a customer’s car. I was devastated when I stepped out of the car to see what had happened and I immediately burst into tears.
As soon as it happened, one of his employees ran to get my dad.
He ran outside and said Are you okay?
When I assured him, through my tears that I was he then burst out laughing.
I had a huge dent in my car and could not stop crying. I just kept saying ............Please don't tell Mom, please don't tell Mom.
He laughed, gave me a hug and promised me he wouldn't tell her.
Now why I didn't think she would notice the huge dent in my car I do not know but for some silly reason I didn't want him to tell her.
So guess what?
He didn't.
Several months later as my mom and I returned from shopping one day and pulled into the driveway she said to me......... How long do I need to go before I mention that big dent in your car?
I laughed and asked if Daddy had told her and she said No.
She said she had asked him but he told her he had promised me not to tell - so he didn't. That's the kind of Daddy he is.
He has always been such a fun dad. Even though he worked long and hard he always made time to take us on exciting adventures.
On countless weekends in high school he took us water skiing along with many of our friends. He loved hanging out with us and our friends have always absolutely adored him.
On my wedding day to Maddie’s dad after spending an obscene amount of money for the wedding (and grumbling quite a bit about it) I'll never forget his words to me as he was about to walk me down the aisle.
All of my bridesmaids had walked down the aisle and it was just the two of us standing in front of the doors to the sanctuary. He took a deep breath, turned to me and said........ It's not too late. If you want to leave, we can.
Those words were precious to me because they showed that my happiness was of the utmost importance to him. More important than any amount of money. More important than any amount of embarrassment. More important than anything.
Even though he is a man of few words I've always known he loved us tremendously.
This fact was never more evident as when my mom got sick and he began to take care of her. She was the one who took care of all of us so it was quite an adjustment for him but he rose to the challenge.
He went from doing no housework or cooking to doing it all on top of taking care of my very ill mother. She told me shortly before she died that she always knew he loved her but that she had never felt more loved than she did when she got sick and he took care of her.
Seeing the loving way he took care of her caused me to love him even more- which I didn't think was possible.
He's the most amazing grandfather in the world and truly spoils Maddie terribly. I think he feels that he has to spoil her for both my mom and him- and he does.
I am so very blessed to have such a precious Daddy.
