Happy Father's Day, Dad!

It has been almost exactly 5 years since my father died, and holidays, birthdays, and special occasions have never been quite the same. I don't know if one really ever gets over the loss of a parent; it's as though a part of your body has been stripped away and you make do in order to get by day to day, but it's never the same again.

My dad was kind, fun-loving, honest, protective, curious, and the rock of the family. 
He enjoyed gadgets, new technology, great clothes, but most of all he enjoyed time with his family. 
He loved the black walnut cakes and blackberry jelly my mother made for him; he thought she was the best cook ever. 
He never missed a family reunion or get-together and had more fun laughing (and eating and teasing) with his brothers and sisters than doing just about anything else.
He was always the first to have a computer, digital camera, video camera, or any new home item. He is the one who urged me to buy a new computer way back in 1996 so I could get online at home and he could call me via the Internet.
He enjoyed buying his 2 daughters all the great toys he could also play with when we were little, from an enormous race car set (when I was about 8 years old) to basketballs, a toboggan (since we lived at the top of a hill, but it was years before we had a big snow again), bicycles, skateboards, badminton, and more.
He loved our friends and enjoyed the times when kids were at our house, or taking a carload of us to football and basketball games, visiting at college, and going out to huge Mexican or seafood feasts when visiting my sister or me in Texas.
He eagerly took his 2 granddaughters on expeditions to get ice cream, to play at the park, to show off to his friends, to ride his four-wheeler, as well as carving pumpkins and sledding in the back yard.
My father was very protective of his daughters, and throughout my life, anytime we parted he always advised me to "Be good" and Be careful." I laughed when I was 40 years old and a mother, and my father still advised me to "be careful."


So, today on Father's Day, I especially miss my dad more than words can say. Life just isn't the same. Love you lots and miss you still.