Memories of Dad

• He would always let me stand on his feet and hold me as he walked around - even when I was a teenager.
• When he laughed it was a loud, shake the rafters kind and sometimes his eyes would water. When he laughed like that you knew he was enjoying whatever made him laugh.
• He would always grab whatever dog we had by the ears in a firm grip and say, "I oughta just skin you alive and put you out of your misery." That sounds sort of bad now, but if you saw it, you knew that was his way of telling the dog, "I love you."
• His love of fishing and the many trips to northern WI we went on so all he could do was fish.
• How he would say, "let me sleep on it" no matter what you had asked of him.
• How he kept the vehicles so clean. He could have wore his church suit in his semi.
• He would have a beer or two or three every night and if I brought it to him, I could steal a sip or two or three.
• He always wore work pants and button down shirts and work boots. It was the very rare occasion you saw him in shorts.
• When driving, he would rarely talk, just look contemplatively out the window and smoke his cigarette. I often wondered what he thought about.
• I was always a little afraid of him.
• How he never let me wear pants to church. To this day, I still don't, it just isn't "right."
• How he always made sure we prayed before we ate.
• How well respected he was in church and the bank and the tire dealer, and here and there.
• How happy he and mom were to be going to FL for the winter of 99-00.
• When we visited them in FL in February 2000, how they ate out all the time (never happened growing up) and he wore shorts and tennis shoes, and how happy and relaxed they were.
• Before we left FL, how he apologized for all the tests that took him away a couple of days during our visit and he kept apologizing for "not being there" when I was growing up.
• How I told him I loved him and knew he was there and was providing for our family.
• How 7 years ago today, He was called home by His heavenly Father to live with Him in eternal glory.
• How exactly two weeks later God blessed me with a son whom we honored by giving him Dad's name.
• How I love my Dad and miss him incredibly and can't wait to see him again in heaven.