Today is my daddy's sixty-fourth birthday. WHOOT! We'll be celebrating this evening with my family coming over for a meal of tacos, Spanish rice, refried beans, and marble cake for dessert. Brother John O' said it was National Creamsicle Day today so since daddy loves creamsicle and it's his birthday, I bought the creamsicle ice cream to go with his cake. :D
Daddy asked me a couple of weeks ago if there was anything that stood out in my mind about him from my childhood. There were many things that came to mind.
*Dancing with him on his feet
*Eating ice cream with him when he would get home from work on second shift
*How he would make me a grilled cheese sandwich, with crispy edges, dripping in butter when I got home from work as a teenager
*Always willing to slip me cash.....knowing he would never see the change, but hear the words, "I'll bring you back the change" anyway.
*Making sure I dressed right and lived right
*Teaching me the values of a goodly heritage
*Wearing Marx glasses with bushy eyebrows and a mustache, as we drove down the road waving at strangers we passed
*Being in the church house every single time the doors were opened
*Loving me when I disappointed him the most
*Sitting in restaurants with spoons dangling from our noses
*The THOUSANDS of sodas and Little Debbie snacks he bought me driving around town
*The hundreds of dollars in quarters he dropped in the Ms Pac Man machine at R&H Superette on the way home from church every Sunday and Wednesday night
*Working with him when he owned his lawn service and him paying me more than I deserved
*The numerous trips to Ohio that were made fun by playing "road games" and singing the dumbest songs ever
*Listening to hilarious stories of his childhood that I could hear over and over again
*Seeing his face light up the first time he held his first grandchild his first trip overseas
*Watching him leave a well of strength for others when he walked through his darkest valley of his firstborn's death
*Sitting on the porch in the rocking chairs making fun of mom. Poor mom
*Feeling relief when his police car pulled up in the driveway after he had been in a shoot out and he got out smiling showing off the bullet holes in the car and how close they were to his head
*Laughing when he called mom from work, needing her to bring him his gun that he had forgotten to put in its holster HELLO! POLICEMAN!!!
*The numerous times his pants have fallen down in public before he finally started wearing suspenders!!!
*All those times I felt sorry for him that all he "....had to eat today was a moldy piece of bread and stale potato chips."
*The patience he showed while teaching me to drive. And then more patience when teaching me to drive a straight drive
*The numerous times he asked a waitress, "Is this guaranteed not to rust, must, or collect dust for ninety days or double my money back?
Daddy taught me how to love, that laughter really is the best medicine, and to love thy God with all thine heart, and with all thine soul, and with all thine might.
Happy Birthday, Daddy!!! I love you all the way to Heaven.
