Thank you, Dad
Lynne Bell
听听听听听听听听听听听 In the spirit of Father's Day, my lovely editor and I both agreed to suspend our usual debate and instead, use this space to honour our dads.
听听听听听听听听听听听 My darling dad has been experiencing some health issues that unfortunately, sometimes seem to change the very essence of who he is. Yesterday, as I paid him a visit, Father's Day card in hand (which is all he has ever wanted, 鈥淛ust a card, Honey, just a card...鈥�). I didn't know what to expect, which is now the new normal for him and for us, his family.
听听听听听听听听听听听 听As it turns out, this Father's Day, I was given the gift of a wonderful, three-hour visit full of laughs and great memories, but had it not turned out be that kind of visit, I realized that the love he gave me and the lessons he taught me still endure, no matter what. So in honour of my wonderful Dad, here is my little tribute to him:
听听听听听听听听听听听 Thanks for insisting that we be kind, Dad. I'm still working on this one, but the importance of taking the time to cultivate kindness makes for a happier life for everyone. You always said, 鈥淵ou never know what (burden) someone is carrying inside them,鈥� and you were right. Your words were few, but when you spoke, they were worth listening to. Thank you.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Thanks for urging us to appreciate it all, even-or especially-the little stuff. Even though you treated me to some pretty epic experiences-a limo ride along the lights of Las Vegas and Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash concerts among them-the trips to the mall in Calgary with my babies in tow or just sitting around and laughing and talking wherever we were, are equally etched in my heart and memory. You showed me that it's possible to have a great life wherever you land and always, always, people come first. Thank you.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Like anyone, you made mistakes, but you learned from them and we learned from you. You showed us by example what the good life really is and you said of any mistakes you had made, the biggest one was missing time with the people you loved the most. That's a big one, Dad. Thank you.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Even though I was utterly repelled by your taste in tunes as a know-it-all teen, thank you for giving me an enduring love of music and the poetry and life lessons that can be found in the seemingly simple lyrics of country music. Thanks for that too, Dad.
听听听听听听听听听听听 And if by chance, some our future visits are quieter than the one we had this Father's Day, maybe we can hang out and listen to some Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. You're still here, I'm still here, and our songs are still here. So is the love and so are the lessons.
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听听听听听听听听听听听 Thank you, Dad.
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Thank you Dad for everything
By Kelly Running
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 This week Lynne and I decided to call another truce and decided we鈥檇 put off being argumentative in favour of celebrating Father鈥檚 Day last weekend.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Growing up on the farm, I remember how hard working my parents were. Dad would head out in the tractor or combine and be gone from early in the a.m. until late in the p.m. This didn鈥檛 matter one bit, however, because my sister and I got to go with him in the field.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 When we were young we鈥檇 sit and play with our toys or visit with Dad. If we got tired we鈥檇 get to have a cat nap curled up on his jacket on the floor as we took turns out in the tractor/combine with him. As we got older we still sat on the buddy seat visiting with dad.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Dad always took the time to eat supper with us too. It was definite family time as he either came into the house to eat or we鈥檇 take supper out to the field with us and he鈥檇 take a quick break; I鈥檝e discovered this isn鈥檛 the norm of farming though and not everyone will stop to enjoy this time. I鈥檓 thankful he did.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The other week when I went home for a few days, I made sure I鈥檇 have one to hang out with him particularly before my sister鈥檚 wedding. He bought a kayak this year and since I got one last year it was the perfect chance to tour 鈥渟peedy creek.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 We packed some snacks and headed south to go jump on the creek. He made fun of me as he speedily passed me, laughing that I鈥檇 be looking at the back of his head the whole time. Which on the straightaways was the case, but in the tiny rapids he kept getting stuck on rocks while I manoeuvred my little kayak through waiting for him a little further down.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It took us two and a half hours to meander down the creek. We stopped for photos, got stuck in shallow spots having to scoot our way through, and enjoyed the beautiful day touring the creek. I couldn鈥檛 believe how many turtles we saw! There were so many of them. They slithered into the creek when they heard us get near and their little heads would pop up watching us, submarine, and pop up a little further down.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It was a ton of fun and spending time with my dad is something I love doing. He鈥檚 kind-hearted and a loving dad. I definitely take pride when people back home laugh about how much I work, telling me I鈥檓 just like him. He has an amazing work ethic and I hope mine is even half of what his is because I鈥檒l be set for life with that.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Family comes first for dad though and I couldn鈥檛 be luckier to have him as my pa.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 And it might have been Father鈥檚 Day, but notice I didn鈥檛 use the word father鈥� that鈥檚 because: 鈥淎nyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad, and that鈥檚 why I call you dad, because you are so special to me. You taught me the game and you taught me how to play it right.鈥� ~ Wade Boggs. The game for me would be about life in general.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Now Father鈥檚 Day is about more than just dad鈥檚 though, it鈥檚 about grandfathers as well. I didn鈥檛 know my grandpa on my dad鈥檚 side, he passed away at a very young age, and my opa passed away when I was quite young. It makes me a little sad I don鈥檛 have any memories of Grandpa Jackson and that my memories of Opa are limited, but I know I love them both immensely even without meeting one and with limited memories of the other. They had to be good people because my parents turned out the way they did.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 My oma found a second love and therefore I鈥檓 lucky to have a fantastic third grandfather. He鈥檚 a fairly quiet man, or maybe that鈥檚 because I鈥檓 pretty quiet and don鈥檛 talk much, but he is knowledgeable and kind-hearted like grandpa鈥檚 are. He鈥檚 been there for our family and he鈥檚 been there for my oma. Seeing them together is beautiful because you can see the love in their eyes when you look at them interacting with each other and I feel blessed to have him in my life.
