Happy Dad’s Day…..A Bit Early

I don’t get to spend nearly as much time with my dad as I’d like to, I really wish that every day could be celebrated as “Dad’s Day!”  So this is a bit off the whole surrogate topic but maybe next year Khelifa will have the joy of being able to celebrate Dad’s day.  My dad is such an amazing genuine person and I don’t know that he has an understanding of this concept.

My dad married my mom on September 2 1972 and with that came my two “sisters” Sandy and Sherry.  My dad didn’t think twice about becoming their dad.  He has always been there for all four of “his” children regardless of who their biological father was.  I wish more people would take the time to listen to a thing or two from my dad; people could learn a ton from him.

My dad taught me that everyone deserves a chance.  When you give them a chance and they take advantage of you, you shouldn’t automatically turn your back on them because they could have been having a bad day or they too could have been taken advantage of so I should consider giving them another chance.  If they continue to take advantage of me, well then I should stop helping out so much.  I think there are far too many people now days that won’t give anyone a chance based upon a first glance or a first thought.

My dad is the person that I can fully rely on no matter what the circumstance is.  I know that if Jayde is sick and I can’t get away from work, that I can call and no matter what he has going on for the day, he will drop EVERYTHING and take care of Jayde.  I know that if I am stranded on the side of the road, that no matter where in the state I am at, I can call and he will be there to help.   He is the father figure I would like more than anything Jayde to have.  He has set a precedent in my mind that I would like Jayde to view as a father.  Unfortunately Jayde will not be able to have that with her dad, but she will always have my dad and I am willing to share.

My dad has always been a great story teller, he will sit and talk with me for hours on end about “when I was younger” and tell me stories about when he was younger or when I was younger.  I remember years and years ago when he’d get home from working at Fargo Tire, he would have (what I thought then to be the best smell EVER) the dirty old tire smell and I’d run to him and be hugging on him and all I’d want to do is sit on his lap so that we could read the news paper together and eat popcorn out of the old green Tupperware bowl together.  Dad had a wonderful old popcorn pan that never got washed (because the popcorn wouldn’t taste the same if the pan was washed) and from what I can remember we would eat popcorn almost every night.  The best part was sitting in his lap and reading the paper while eating the popcorn though.  It’s been far too long since we’ve had one of those days.  I don’t think he’d like me sitting in his lap any more, but maybe we’d go eat a good steak and talk about when Jayde was younger instead of when I was younger.

My dad is one of those people that will give his very last dollar to someone else if he feels that they could use it more than he could.  He is such a giving person and I am glad that so many of his attributes have transferred to me; I just wish I could transfer some of my optimism over on to him.  He is bit of a “glass is half empty” kind of guy.  Which works perfect, I am overly positive on most things….so when dad and I are together, our glass is just perfect!

Thanks for being so perfect for me Dad, I couldn’t be half the person I am today without the wonderful person that you are.  I know you don’t get the appreciation that you deserve!

I hope that by this next time Khelifa will get to celebrate Father’s day and someday he too will get a thank you post from his child.

On a side note….I have thousands of printed photos and thousands of digital images, none of which contain my dad.  I have thousands of negatives which my parents have the thousands of prints (that match the negatives) all which contain the images of my dad.  So for now, no one will know what my dad looks like.  Perhaps a different day, I will add an image.