A word about Dad....long overdue

The BBQ chef - This was a Father's Day gift one year - hat and apron.  We called each other 'chef' before it was cool

Check out our outfits.....Travolta clearly took wardrobe clues from Alan!

I still lay like that on the floor - minus the pigtails.  Dad looks like Michael Landon in this photo

Visiting at Nan & Pop's

Dad taught me how to fish.  I could even put worms on!

I feel sorry for my Dad.  He is often the forgotten one in our family.

It was just him in a household of women.  Hormonal, moody, hysterical, picky women.

It is only ok for me to say that about myself, my mom and sister.  

Dad bore the brunt of our pent up emotions. 

One look across the table from my Dad - and ~*boom*~ I would crumple into tears.

The poor guy wore a look close to mystified......WTH just happened?!
As a young girl, Dad was not the first one I ran to.  It was not his fault - it was just the nature of being a girl and wanting Mom.

Even when I left home - It was always Mom that I called wanting to talk to.  Poor Dad, never getting to talk to me, always the last one to know what was going on.  It was as if since the girls discussed it, everyone must know.

Sorry Dad.
I even mistakenly thought I had once upon a time written about my Dad here - but after going back through the archives - I found I was wrong.  Just like me to assume.  Poor Dad.  Not one single post dedicated to him.
I am confident that my Dad knows that I love him.  We all love him.  Giving him a bad time is to be expected.  As my Dad would say,  

"This is what we do in this family" 
and he is right.
As a family, we tease, we mock, we joke, we laugh, we give each other a hard time.  So basically, for the past 40 years, my Dad has come to expect that he is the last to know and the one that his 3 girls will gang up on.

I love my Dad.
He is a great story teller - and I love that mischievous look he gets in his eye seconds before he delivers the punchline.
Dad has a laugh that fills a room and is totally recognizable as his own.  I think my own big mouth, loud laugh comes directly from him.
Dad taught me to love and admire stupid humor.  My Mom and Sister have no love of really bad, stupid movies like me and my Dad.

Even though I may not always have run to Dad first with problems or heartache - he always comes to the rescue.  I am still guaranteed a big bear hug when I need one.  Thank you Dad for always listening and being my biggest supporter.  I know he is proud of me.  And that means the world to me.

Dad has taught me many valuable lessons along the way.
My favorite one is "if it's free take it"
Don't think you can't carry it, or you don't have room for anymore - take it!

And still, no matter how often I say I hate something - I still can hear him saying,
"Hate is a very strong word.  Do you really hate it?"

When you hear your Dad saying this to you in your head when you are gossiping with girlfriends and saying you hate so and so or such and such - it really does make you think.....and yes, you do get the parental guilt trip!

I am calling this one, "Dad yelling at me"  Even though I say "yelling" when I am just being spoken to in a rational manner.

Thank you Dad for teaching me to love my family no matter what, thank you for going to the store early in the morning to get me 'supplies', thank you for morning Starbucks runs, and rides back and forth to the airport.....from the wee small hours of the morning and the night!  Thank you for teaching me to be a foodie before it was cool, thanks for dancing when "Shout" comes on, thanks for teaching me how to fish, and how to ride a bike for 40 miles all at once.  Thanks for still making me feel like you are there to take care of me even though it turns out I have been a grown-up for a long time now.  Thanks for liking me on Facebook and learning how to text.  Thanks for always understanding that we love you even when you think we leave you out.

Love You Dad!  Happy Father's Day!