i'm late a lot. so i guess a late father's day post is normal for me. :)
my dad gave us all a little scare last week, which made me reflect a little early about fatherhood.
i've prayed for friends who've lost a parent or agonized with friends whose parents have undergone cancer treatments or other stuff. but it's never been me. i really had no idea how it would feel to think you may really lose a parent.
so while my dad waited his turn and then had a quadruple by-pass surgery i had a lot of time to think. I remembered my dad and how he taught me to persevere - you know, farmers are the strongest, most persevering people I know.
he let me ride along on the combine since i can remember. he taught me how to drive a tractor, and then eventually how to plow. and when i made the front of the tractor make a 90 degree angle off the ground for plowing too deep he didn't yell at me. even when i jumped off the tractor and ran all the way back to the house.
he DID sell my horse when i was away at camp one summer. now that memory was a little bittersweet but i can laugh about it today. :-) it was really his horse and i guess he was sick. but i didn't remember that part but eric reminds me every time i tell the story. (i'm sure i don't have a selective memory)
he'd let me sit in the feeding troughs for hours and sing to my favorite calves while he did chores by himself. the calves were named ebony and ivory. you know, just like the song. it was the 80's after all. i think we later ate them but i've blocked that part out. were they butcher calves, dad?
he used to drive on the sidewalk for fun when my friends were in the car. he was/is fun. i tell my own kids that i'm fun too. just like papa decker. :-)
i keep a note in my bible my dad wrote in my 1990. just a few months before i met eric. it was a note he wrote to me during church thanking me for some cinnamon rolls i had made that weekend. i remember watching him write it and it meant the world to me. probably such a small thing to him but it's the small things we remember.
one night my parents took eric and i out to eat while we were dating. when i slipped away to the bathroom my dad asked eric if he knew how important i was. he told him i was a one in a thousand (or was it million?) because my parents had a one in whatever chance of having biological kids. and then i came along. kinda scared the lightening out of eric. :-)
when i sat beside my dad's bedside in ICU the first night after open heart surgery and i watched him breath through a tube i thought about who i would call to tell about one of the kids' test scores or about a lost tooth if something happened to him. i thought about who i would call and talk through things with - ask advice from. my dad is that one i call.
this father's day i'm so thankful my dad is alive. his doctor's found the blockage before he had a heart attack. i am thanking God for my dad today.
then there's Big E. on father's day he did a canon ball into the pool to splash all the by-standers (our kids and their cousins). ten seconds after he hit water he was covered with leeches - the kid kind.
later we went for a family walk and he walked ahead with Alex who was charging with attitude. on the way back he straggled behind cheering on Lucy who wanted to quit.
he stepped out of his comfort zone to start a job in a new industry so he could provide for us. every day he's learning something new.
he puts up with me. that says a lot. :-)
he sat through 3 episodes of Little House on the Prairie on saturday so he could spend time with his girls.
he's a teacher by nature. i stick to the books and teach the basics. he teaches life. he's full of knowledge on a nature trail walk or when the kids pull a question out of no where. he's got the answer.
happy father's day E. we are thankful for you, too.
and finally we've got grandpa "cherry" as lucy calls him. (and pathetically, this is the best photo i can find of him.)
everyone knows jerry buller. :-)
jerry, eric's dad, drove to iowa many times to help me with house repairs. he was almost electrocuted on several occasions on my behalf. :-) i think he ended up replacing most of the lights in our house on calaveras lane.
he loves people. jerry makes friends with everyone. that is a gift. (one i think lucy acquired)
jerry drove eric to emporia last weekend in the rain to meet eric's brother 1/2 way so eric could get to work the next day and i could stay with my dad in the hospital. he's driven more miles in his life than anyone i know. and he loves it.
i think jerry made it to all 50 states, right? pretty cool.
jerry is a great cook. he seems to enjoy trying new recipes.
jerry and johnsie have helped with my kids on numerous occasions through many moves.
i'm thankful for you, too, jerry. happy father's day.
(and the only reason my dad's is longer than the rest is because i've known him longer) :)
