I’m usually a day late publishing holiday posts, mostly because I want to be fully present during the day. Holidays are really special to me, and something that I want to make a priority in our family. Yesterday we had a quiet day at home and we didn’t take any pictures or do any writing. Hank got home around 4am so we stayed home from church, I made a big brunch, then spent the day playing outside in our new gorgeous back yard, watched the World Cup, and finished the day with sushi and the Spurs win!.
Anyhow, I’ve written a lot about my husband, who is the most wonderful father I could ask for for my kids.
But today I want to honor my own dad.
He’s amazing. He’s the reason that I know how to shoot a BB Gun, bow & arrow and sling shot.
He started working at age 8 and has provided financially for himself since he was a child. He taught me how to work really, really hard. He taught me that no job is beneath me. That if you want something, you have to go out, do the hard work, and earn it.
He is the reason I can use a drill and jackhammer, paint a house, repair a garage door, mow, edge & weed eat a lawn, repair drywall, ride a motorcycle, snow ski, use a soldering iron, fix things around the house and find termite damage.
He has faced death multiple times in his life and, by the grace of God, came out on the other side.
He is a cancer survivor.
He left a childhood of violence, poverty, and racism, and raised me and my three sisters in a peaceful home that loves God and loves others.
He has loved the same woman, my mom, for 35 years. He recently told my husband that his heart still skips a beat when she walks in the room.
He was one of the first in his family to go to college has multiple degrees. He built a successful company from nothing, and rides his bike more than he drives his car…in an oil town. (If you live in an oil town you know why this is an anomaly.)
He is an incredible athlete as a kid and broke his HS long distance running records that stood for nearly 20 years. He is 6’7” (something my son Henry is very proud of) and used to be able to curl a 125 lb dumbbell and pick up the front end of a car and drag it out of a tight parking spot. Because he didn’t own a car or bike, he ran through a sandy creek bed 6 miles each way with a backpack full of textbooks because getting an education was that important to him.
He can figure out how to do anything for cheaper than anyone else on the planet.
He has endless (and I mean ENDLESS) energy for playing with my children, and I often find him having fallen asleep in the middle of the day with a play sword, football, or book in his hand.
He loves the forgotten ones. He quietly started a prison ministry that has changed the lives of countless inmates in Texas. He loves these men, and they love him, and he is changing the course of history for their families. He is showing them the love of Christ, and they, in return, are moving on from prison to live lives of purpose, dignity, and integrity; free from violence and drugs.
When I told him, at 16, that I was in love and wanted to marry a boy named Hank, he took me seriously. He encouraged and loved us through the hardest of times. I can honestly say that Hank and I would not be where we are today without the love and support we received from him and my mom.
Happy father’s day Dad, I love you.
