Today is my Dad's birthday. He has been gone 3 1/2 years and I think about him at some point every single day. I love this little picture of him taken one time when He and Mom were visiting Cassie's family in Ohio. This is Dad and Josie.
I wrote down some of my thoughts about Dad one day, and I just feel like sharing them today.
April 1, 2005
Dear Dad,
I appreciate how generous you are. You find great joy in sharing what you have worked all of your life to accumulate. When the man at the service station today said that he didn’t know a better person than you, I felt so lucky to be one of your daughters. You and mom are the best people that I know, too. You chose the best mom for us, and we thank you for that. She is the best.
All of us have always had a strong desire to make you proud of us, and I think you want us to be proud of you, too. Dad, we are proud of you. I can hardly leave our house without meeting someone that asks about you and mom. You are good people, and have accomplished more for good in your lives than most people ever hope to. I’m so glad that you’ve taught us to be industrious, but also to share with others, what the Good Lord has blessed us with. I’ve never seen you be selfish with a soul. Your integrity and honesty are things that you and all of us can be proud of forever.
I’m grateful for the music that you and mom had in our home. I love to remember you singing in the mornings as we were getting out of bed. I’m glad for your encouragement for us to play the piano, and your willingness to listen to us practice. I enjoyed listening to the music that was played on our stereo at home. We enjoyed the classical and even the country western stuff.
I’m probably most thankful for your testimony of the gospel. I feel so lucky to have been born in a home like we had growing up. The gospel has always been the center of our lives, and that home life was wonderful. I loved my childhood, and I know that there are lots of people that don’t get to say that, honestly. We were raised in a home where love was felt and expressed in quiet ways every day. That wonderful part of our lives is what we are trying to pass on to our kids. We have had it so much easier than you and Mom, and we are all so very spoiled, but we still know the good place from which we came. We are who we are because of the sacrifices of our parents and our ancestors. We do appreciate it, and are so proud of our heritage.
I won’t go on and on and make you sick, but I did just want you to know how very much I love you, Dad.
Love, Lucy
Dear Dad,
I appreciate how generous you are. You find great joy in sharing what you have worked all of your life to accumulate. When the man at the service station today said that he didn’t know a better person than you, I felt so lucky to be one of your daughters. You and mom are the best people that I know, too. You chose the best mom for us, and we thank you for that. She is the best.
All of us have always had a strong desire to make you proud of us, and I think you want us to be proud of you, too. Dad, we are proud of you. I can hardly leave our house without meeting someone that asks about you and mom. You are good people, and have accomplished more for good in your lives than most people ever hope to. I’m so glad that you’ve taught us to be industrious, but also to share with others, what the Good Lord has blessed us with. I’ve never seen you be selfish with a soul. Your integrity and honesty are things that you and all of us can be proud of forever.
I’m grateful for the music that you and mom had in our home. I love to remember you singing in the mornings as we were getting out of bed. I’m glad for your encouragement for us to play the piano, and your willingness to listen to us practice. I enjoyed listening to the music that was played on our stereo at home. We enjoyed the classical and even the country western stuff.
I’m probably most thankful for your testimony of the gospel. I feel so lucky to have been born in a home like we had growing up. The gospel has always been the center of our lives, and that home life was wonderful. I loved my childhood, and I know that there are lots of people that don’t get to say that, honestly. We were raised in a home where love was felt and expressed in quiet ways every day. That wonderful part of our lives is what we are trying to pass on to our kids. We have had it so much easier than you and Mom, and we are all so very spoiled, but we still know the good place from which we came. We are who we are because of the sacrifices of our parents and our ancestors. We do appreciate it, and are so proud of our heritage.
I won’t go on and on and make you sick, but I did just want you to know how very much I love you, Dad.
Love, Lucy
9 comments:
We miss him too. He gets talked about here regularly. I am truly thankful for Grandpa. Your letter was beautiful.
What a sweet letter!! He was such a hoot... we can't get through a day without laughing about something he said or did here at the office!!
He was a great man and is missed!!
That was a nice letter. Dad did teach us a lot of good things and I, too, am grateful for that. I like that picture of him in the swing. My all time favorite was the one with him on the bike. He liked to have fun.
Way to make us all cry Aunt Lucy!
I miss old GP too. Especially at Sunday dinners with my family. I just miss him sitting there at the head of the table scraping stuff off his tie with a knife and licking it and laughing at the same old jokes my dad always tells and telling the same old jokes himself. Good times.
Thanks for expressing many of our feelings for us.
Well, that put a lump in my throat. I can't say that I knew your dad very well on a personal level, but I always knew he was good. It doesn't seem quite right that we have to get along so long on this earth without our dads.
That was such a nice letter. 3 1/2 years has flown by, it doesn't seem that long ago. I miss him too.
Man, that was a choker uper! I am sure glad he got to read that before he passed away! Probably made him smile through all his pain.
Funniest, greatest, most honest man ever, hands down!
Thanks for sharing mom.
Lucy, beautiful letter & every word is true!!! I wouldn't have made it with out him & your wonderful mother. After Phillip died, they & you are what kept my head above water. You were always there for me & my kids, no one as ever had a more true friend than you have been to me. Your Dad was always there in our time of need.
when Justin had to get the crops in before Kirk came home from his mission & Brad was in California in school, all the many, many other things your parents did for us we can thank them enough. Thank you to all of you--Merlene
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