Dad's Tribute

My dad, my Rock. Sometimes he’s the rock when I’m between a rock and a hard place. Other times he’s the rock I beat my head against when I feel like giving up. But most often my dad is the rock that I cling to, to keep from drowning when the river of my life runs deep and begins to flood.

As an adult I realize how aggravated my mom must have been when nothing seemed to shake my dad. His foundation always stable, sometimes he just didn’t react at all. It seemed like nothing ever affected him. Now I realize, things did affect him, he must have been upset at times. But he’s always been the rock our family runs to when we are scared. Should that rock falter… at any time… I can’t think of what may have happened. No matter the situation no matter the consequence… we all looked to our rock, Dad to hold our ground and maintain a special kind of normalcy. He always had a plan that would get things on track. He showed us all strength and endurance, not to mention determination. I don’t remember dad ever ‘crying over spilt milk’. He’d say that would be a waist of time.

This is the most difficult tribute I’ll be writing. Not because the words escaped me. But because these words have been inside of me all my life. I’ve just always expected that my dad knows how I feel whether I say it or not. To be honest, a feeling as wonderful as love, should be said, whether the person knows it or not. These words are just a small token of how much I adore my dad. My dad knows a lot, but I don’t think he knows how hard it’s been for me to find a man I could even compare to him on the same chart, so many times it was like miles compared to millimeters. 10 years ago I could swear no one would ever come close, let alone match up. My dad is unmatchable.  

In my entire life, I've seen my dad cry 3 times. That’s once every 10 years and always because of a loss of one kind or another. He cried when I was very young, the story is too long and too old to tell. But it was honestly the first time I thought my dad might be human, rather then Superman. I've learned since then, even Superman showed emotion. The second was over a decade later. The third time was when I’d lost faith in myself. He wasn’t crying for any loss of his own, he mourned mine. Then he picked me up by the shoulders and told me, “That’s it, there’s no looking back, only moving forward. Backward will get you no where, so this is what we’re going to do...”

When I was moving into an apartment where my 5 year old dog Skamper couldn't live, I was looking at having to give her to the "IN-humane society". I'd held Skamper and cried over this night after night but didn't know what else I could do. Dad came to my house to pick up the kids so I could make it to some meetings. While we loaded the kids up, Skamper lay behind his Jeep. When the kids were ready to go, Skamper wouldn't move. She stayed under the wheel of his vehicle, deturmined that if her kids were going, so was she. I'm convinced she knew what was going on and why I'd been crying for her. I couldn't get Skamper out from under the Jeep. My dad got out of the vehicle, nearing tears at this dogs deturmination. He opened the rear gate. Without hesitation, Skamper jumped up into the Jeep and wagged her tail good-bye. After seeing such dedication, I don't think my dad saw much choice. My parents took Skamper and kept her with them until I was on my feet again. She's 8 years old now and very happy.

To say, “I love you Dad”, leaves out how much I respect and admire him. It doesn’t

come close to expressing how grateful I am that he’s bailed me out of some of the

ugliest messes I have ever gotten myself into. Even some of the smaller ones. He never

asked me to explain… he must have known I couldn’t explain or that the story would just

take too long. The gratitude I have for my dad is endless. He’s asked a lot of me, and

he’s expected a lot. Now I know it was only because he saw my potential.

Every girl should feel the way about their dad that I feel about mine. When a father gives permission for his daughter to marry, he can only hope that the man she chooses will take as good care of her as he would… if only he could live forever.

Thanks dad for not losing faith in me, even when I lost faith in myself.

Dad was holding Tristan the first time he smiled.

Tristan is quite a hand full but he won't let my dad put him down!! He just follows him all over. They talk and hang out durring all of our get togethers.

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