"Dad"

My father was the kind of man that everyone looked up to and respected. Dad was incredibly smart and it seemed there was nothing he couldn’t fix or figure out. He grew up during the depression and as might be expected, that had a great influence in his life. During the depression money was scarce and hard work was the name of the game. Dad learned at an early age to work and to save his earnings, and to not trust the banks with all his money. He was very frugal with his hard earned income.

Dad was a workaholic; it seemed he always had to be working on something. As a child, we always celebrated our Christmas on Christmas Eve. Each Christmas Eve after dinner my family would journey to my parent’s bedroom where we would intently watch out the window for Rudolph’s shiny red nose, signifying that Santa was near. While watching for Santa we would sing Christmas carols as a multitude of pictures were taken. My father was hardly ever in these pictures though, before we ventured to my parent’s bedroom my father would disappear, my mother would tell us he had to work on something in the garage.

The fact that my father would be working even on this night might have seemed odd to most people, but not to us, we were all used to seeing him work so much. It wasn’t until years later that I realized he wasn’t out in the garage working, he was helping Santa. Our Santa had a lot of work to do too; with seven children eagerly awaiting his arrival.

When we would go out into the living room, after Santa had gone, we were amazed by the vast amount of presents that filled the room. Now, I believed in Santa a little longer than most of my friends, this was because when questioned about Santa my parents always explained there was no way they could afford to buy all those gifts for all of us. While I know my father worked a lot, I’m still amazed our parents were able to give us so much.

This is just one story, the stories and accomplishments of dad are too many to list, though throughout the years I know we will all be telling them to our children and grandchildren just to give them a small piece of what he’s given us for all these years.

To say my dad was a good provider would be an understatement. He gave us whatever we needed and more. Even though he knew the value of money and was very cautious with his spending, his sense of family was by far his strongest emotion, and he made sure his family was happy and well taken care of.

I realize this workaholic trait of my father’s supplied me and my family with many happy memories, but I just wish my father would have had more time to share in them with us. I always tell everyone that “I had the best parents in the world.” They taught us love, respect, and the true meaning of family. My only wish is that dad is happy; and that he knows how much he is loved by us all and that we’ll miss him very much. He is and always will be the greatest man I’ve ever known.

WE LOVE YOU DAD!