In honor of Father's Day

Meet my father--he loooooves pictures.  I realized the other day that I'm not very faithful with the camera, but I've made a resolution to fix that problem. 

Thankfully, I have plenty of pictures to make this post worthwhile for those of you who do follow.

My dad was/is an iron worker.  I can't say that his career is entirely in the past, because so many things he learned or loved on the job still carry into his every day life.  Want an example?  When they were tying rods for my soon-to-be basement, he came out to my house to make sure they were doing it "correctly."  Thank heavens they were!  I'm not sure they would've wanted to see the wrath of the iron worker ;)

Of course, iron working (and other house ventures) isn't his only talent.  Until this year, he was a playground supervisor at a local grade school, and he really found his niche.  He loves little kids.  So when we decided to dress as the cast of Peter Pan for our church's annual Trunk or Treat, he agreed to dress as youngest brother, Michael--complete with onsie pajamas and a teddy bear.

Unfortunately, his job as a playground supervisor didn't last due to lack of funds in education.  But did it stop him from enjoying students or praising their accomplishments?  Absoutely not.  As a member of the local high school board, he still makes time to know what's going on in the lives of students.  At graduation, he hands out several diplomas so he can hug the ones he's known since they were little.  In fact, some of them, at the mere age of 9 or 10, consistently invited him to their little dances and he wouldn't have been short dates.  No siree.  His dance card would've been completely full.

In spite of all of his skills, he's not always camera-ready.  Can you tell?  I think he was deeply involved in some conversation about NASCAR, because he's a huge fan. 

He's always liked sports.  In fact, I have a couple of stories about really pushing my older brother and I to become track stars.  It didn't work out.  AT.  ALL.   But, these days, NASCAR seems to be at the top of the list of his sports loves.  He and my mom have been to Daytona a couple of times for the race, and he always looks like a little kid at Christmas.

Can you see Dale Jr. in that picture?  Doesn't it look like he's sitting right next to Dale Sr.?  Well, if you don't think so, you're blind.  Because on top of loving NASCAR, my dad bears a striking resemblance to the former NASCAR star.  The look-a-like thing doesn't stop there.  My dad also looks a little like Tom Selleck (Magnum P.I.) and apparently a baseball player named Wade Boggs (it's entirely possible that this guy is retired now.  I don't follow baseball).  When my little brother was in high school, one of his buddies walked outside the gym to find my dad waiting for my little brother to finish practice.  The conversation when a little like this:

Silly Boy:  Dude, WADE BOGGS is standing in the foyer!
Lil Bro:  Um...yeah...that's my dad.
Silly Boy:  DUDE...YOUR DAD IS WADE BOGGS!

I guess there's no convincing some people.

This is my dad and my mom.  I won't tell you how they met, because the story is a little disturbing.  But an apparently non-romantic start led to three children and a relationship that has lasted 35 years on December 12!  They were married in 1975.  My older brother was born in 1978; I came along in 1980 and lil bro made his appearance in 1984. 

Today, their relationship has made it easy for me to determine the way my marriage should work.  They've set a fantastic example.

This is the only picture I have of most of us with my father.  Unfortunately, lil bro was still in the AirForce at this point in time, so he couldn't be in the picture.

From left to right:  Hubby, Me, my dad, Older Bro and his girlfriend, Sheena (who also blogs).

My dad's heart is really big, and he loves us unconditionally.  He and my mom have opened the doors of their home to countless numbers of non-homeless "children" in the community, and as a result, I have several non-biological brothers and sisters.  To date, Kate, Amber, Jake, Brad and countless others count my mom and dad as their "second parents."  I only wish I had a picture of my dad with all of his "kids."  I'm just not sure it would be possible to get them and all the dogs in the same photograph ;)

I hope this simple post goes a long way in showing you what a fantastic person he is.  If I had pictures of him on the roof of the house, or iron working, or spoiling his shih tzu, etc., I would totally post them.  But you'll have to use your imagination to know all of his wonderful qualities.

Hopefully, it will not take a rocket scientist to figure out how much I love him.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!  I love you!