I would like to draw your attention to the man of the hour, who is eagerly looking at the goodies he is about to devour. Haha :)
Well, as with Mother's Day, I would like to take a few minutes and write about my Dad on this lovely Father's Day :)
My Dad and I get along pretty well. He's a dork, I'm a dork. It works. Anybody who knows me well enough knows that I absolutely love and adore my Dad. He's probably my favorite person.
Dad had an awesome 70's/80's childhood where you could do pretty much anything. When my siblings and I were younger, we would always ask him to tell us cool stories from when he was young. Mom didn't always like that- she thought it would give us ideas haha :) My Dad told stories of shooting bottle rockets at drunk people, riding a bike down a hill and off the ramp into the pond behind his house, swimming after keys he dropped into Powell on a stormy day, throwing old celery with cheese out the window of the poor family's window when they weren't looking on his mission in Wisconsin, going 4-wheeling and jet skiing and tubing and skiing, how he met my Mom and the many events that led up to their marriage, how he and his siblings would drive down to Powell on a mattress they put in the bed of their truck, how he and Rob biked all the way down to Powell one year, and many many other stories.
When I was young, I remember many Saturdays with Dad. First thing I remember is how we got Slurpees at 7-11 literally every week. We always looked forward to that as kids :) Of course, after we did the yard work.... which was always really lame... When we lived in Draper, my Dad would take the kids to some BYU games. I remember not really liking the football games. I never really payed attention, to be honest. Dad would try to explain things to me, but I never understood the game. But I did enjoy going because I got to spend time with my Dad. That was always a nice thing :) He also taught me how to throw a football, tackle someone if I ever did play football, mow the lawn, throw a frisbee, ski, jet ski, etc..
My Dad always taught me to be tough. Whenever I would fall down or get cut or whatever it was, he would throw up a big thumbs up and say "Awesome!" then sometimes I would still be upset and start crying and he would give me a hug. When my Mom, Dad, Andrew and I went to France to visit Nana and Papa at the tail-end of their mission, I got attacked by a dog. I don't remember much from it, flashes here and there, but I remember it wasn't a very pleasant experience. I didn't need to go to the hospital or anything, but I was still pretty beat up. I remember he carried me upstairs to our room and put me in the bathtub to wash me off. I remember sitting there in that bathtub- the water got all gross and bloody. My head hurt, and I was shaken up and miserable. I asked him to tell me a story to get my mind off it. He started with something like, "Once upon a time, there was a little 9 year old girl. She went to France with her family and had a lot of fun adventures. She rode horses and went to the Eiffel Tower...." After a little bit of that, I realized it was me and giggled, telling him to tell me a different story- not one about myself :P
Dad also taught me to work. And I hated it. Especially vacuuming. I would be a little stink and put up a fight. But Mom and Dad didn't care, they would make me do it anyway. Finally, years later, here I am admitting that they were right, and thanking them for making me do all those chores. There ya go, guys- You were right!! Happy now? :P But yeah. Chores. Work. Cleaning. I remember when I was younger, I was washing the counter, and was spending forever trying to get this darn spill cleaned off, but I couldn't get it! I was getting a little frustrated. My Dad came over and said "You know, there's this great stuff that you can use that will take that spill right off that counter." Looking for the miracle-solution that would take the stubborn spill off the counter, I eagerly asked what it was. Dad said it was called "Elbow Grease." Woosh. That went right over my head. "Awesome, where is it?" I asked, super excited, thinking it was like the next generation of Windex or something. Dad laughed and explained that I just needed to put a little more work and effort into it. Eventually that thing came off the counter.
My Dad also taught me optimism. I worked at his office, filing papers, organizing stuff, and working on the long tedious jobs that no one else wanted to do. It was fine cause I got paid, but I still didn't always like the work. After a long week at work, I was sad to watch my weekend slip away all too quickly. Monday was back again. I was at the computer, back to my task, bored out of my mind. Only an hour into my work day, I remember looking at the clock and thinking, 'How am I going to get through this day? Its only an hour into my work, and I'm already dying to go home!'... then a few minutes later, I realized with horror, "How am I going to get through this week???" I was upset, and bored, and BLEH. Then I heard the door open. "Good morning, everyone!" My Dad called into the office. A bright and cheerful greeting that each of the co-workers responded to. He walked around, individually talking to each person, asking how their weekend. I thought, 'what the heck, Dad why are you so happy?? It's Monday morning, it's a horrible time to be happy!' After a few minutes, he circled around to my cubicle. "Hi Hayley, how are you?" I turned to him, "Good.... Dad, why the heck are you so happy?" He smiled and responded, "Why not?" That caught me off guard. I shouldn't even be complaining! My Dad works longer hours than I do, with a boss that's even more strict. And here I am, complaining about my whimpy little 7 hours in a cubicle. I learned quickly from that experience to always be happy, because... why not? It's a choice.
Dad also always had a cool and patient head, with an ability to just see things very simply and see them for how they are. He didn't scold or get angry at me very often, but when he did, there was a reason for it, and he always did it in a loving way. He was always very patient. Sometimes I just need to talk, and he would just listen. That requires a lot of patience :P He would also always remind me when I was frustrated or upset, that there is always a solution. You just have to find it. And crying or being frustrated or throwing things at the wall isn't going to get you any closer to finding it.
He also knows me better than I think he does. He always has my back, even if I sometimes forget. When David left on his mission, it was really hard for me. He is my best friend. But there were a couple times that my Dad just talked to me about it. Even if I couldn't, or didn't want to talk about it or say much about it, he would just let me know what he had me in his thoughts and prayers and knew that it was hard without him. There was one time a couple months ago when I was having a really hard time. I tried to hide it, and I didn't tell anyone. But he called and told me he knew I was having a hard time with it. He had my back.
I could talk about my Dad forever. And I do, to anyone who will listen. I absolutely adore him. He has taught me so much and loved me so unconditionally. I can't describe how grateful I am to have been lucky enough to be sent to a guy like him. He is awesome :)
Happy Father's Day! I love you :)
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