I miss you so much already. You were always there to pick me up, to build me, to mold me, to help me become the man I am today. For so many years you never gave up on me or allowed me to give up on my dream. So many times I wanted to quit you were there with encouragement and that smileâ?¦that great big, loving, welcoming, proud smile!! Of course growing up I didnâ??t always see that smile, Lord knows I can definitely bring out the best in people, but when the punishment was done, it was done and that smile and your love prevailed. There are so many lessons I learned from you over the years that I couldnâ??t even begin to list them all. And now knowing everything that I did learn from you I am sitting here wanting to go back and slap that dumbass kid that didnâ??t listen to everything. Maybe it was ADHD, lol, maybe it was being a teenager. I thought I knew it all, you knew I didnâ??t. And when the cub tried to challenge the alpha male you understood, didnâ??t hold it against me and continued to love unconditionally.
I may not have learned how to change the oil in a vehicle, or learn how to work with wood from you but when I look in the mirror and can see what I did learn I can stand a little taller: Honesty, check; Integrity, check; Compassion, check; work ethic, check. The biggest lesson and the most precious gift a father can give his children is to love and respect their mother. That is by far the most significant gift and lesson I have ever learned from you and is one that I will pass on to my children. .
So speaking of lessons learned I remember when I was 9 and we drove from Ft. Bragg to San Diego on Hwy 1. I asked you if I could pee off a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. You just smiled and said â??sureâ??, when I was done and wet!! I turned around and there you stood with a towel and that smile. Donâ??t pee into the wind, check. I love you Dad.
