In Honor Of ...

Over the past couple of weeks, I've done a lot of reflection over my life. Not everything has gone the way I have wanted it to (imagine that!), not all of my decisions were good ones, and during some periods of time, I didn't have the best role models in my life of which to look up to. But as I grow older - and hopefully wiser - I'm realizing that being an adult is hard stuff, especially when you have more to worry about than just yourself.

When I was younger, I definitely took my parents for granted. I didn't realize that even though we went through some hard times, they did the best they could with what they had and the experience that they had been through. As I look at this picture above, I realize that my parents are about my age in this picture. I can't imagine having a 4 and 2 year old right now in my life!! (Especially a 4 and a 2 year old that were me and my brother! Ha!)

But in particular over the last few weeks, I've taken the time to really look at my dad's life, his childhood, his upbringing, the things he went through, and who he is today. So today's Valentine's Day post is dedicated in honor of my handsome dad - the only man who will know the most about me, seen me through the good and the bad, and who I love so much!

My dad was born and raised in a small town in Minnesota. He was handsome from the day he was born, and even looking at his high school pictures, he's someone I would have been attracted to! (Don't get crazy on me here people. I'm not interested in dating my dad!) In that small town, my dad was a pretty big deal. He was a phenomenal hockey player and was in the paper all the time for his mad skills on the ice. Seriously. There are other brothers and one sister in his family who are equally talented in their own way. But looking through past pictures and articles of my dad, it makes me proud of who he was back then.

My dad started his young life pretty rough when in junior high, he became the first victim in Minnesota of a school shooting. My dad was 14 years old. The shooter was aiming to kill my dad along with another teacher. The bullet went right into my dad's chest and was read his last rights there in hospital. But by the grace of God, he lived, and I am so thankful because God had a purpose for his life! Sadly, the other staff member died. My dad still carries a reminder of that shooting across his chest every day by a large scar from his sternum to his abdomen. This only bares the physical scars from that torturous day as he still sometimes wrestles with the emotional side of it all. As I hear and read the story from that day, it brings tears to my eyes that my dad had to go through so much at such a young age.

My dad married his high school sweetheart - my mom - (though they knew each other since grade school) and they will have been married for 36 years this coming June. Even though I get grossed out sometimes at how publicly my dad loves my mom, it is very sweet to see how much he cares for her. He has become a role model for me to look up to, and I hope that whoever I marry can love me as much as my dad loves my mom right now. I am very much like my dad, though for many years I tried to convince myself that I wasn't. I love like my dad loves - affectionately. The more I examine myself and compare myself to my dad, I am so much more like him than I ever thought. I love building things, and my favorite show growing up was "This Old House." Ha! I love the outdoors, gardening/flowers. When I was about as old as I am in the picture above, I remember planting azalea bushes with my dad one spring day. Like a man would, he was out planting in his shorts with his shirt off because it was a hot day in Georgia. I wanted to be just like my dad while "helping" him plant, too, so I decided to work without my shirt on, too! I don't do that anymore. :)

Probably the biggest thing that I love about my dad is his heart for others. My dad is the most caring person on the earth. He would give the shirt off of his back for anyone, give his last dollar away to someone who needed it, and be a shoulder for someone to lean on when in pain. He is currently in Minnesota comforting his childhood mentor who lost his wife to cancer yesterday morning. The second my dad heard that she only had days left to live, he was on a plane. I love my dad's heart so much, and after all that he's been through himself, his biggest joy comes from being there for others. And I am the same way. And those who I love are the same way. My dad has created in me a great quality because of who God made him to be.

He has been there for me during times where I desperately needed help. Like the time I couldn't figure out why the car wouldn't start in the grocery store parking lot. It was because I still had it in "Drive." Or the time I ran out of gas multiple times in my early days of driving. Or when he was okay with me accidently running into the back end of our truck in the driveway because I mixed up which was the gas and the brake. But most importantly, he has been there for me during my days of sadness regarding my paralysis. Though he doesn't understand it completely and can't fix it, he does everything he can to make my life easier.

I am so proud to call dad, MY dad, and I'm so thankful that God allowed him to survive that cold morning in Minnesota so that he and my mom could marry and give birth to me. I love my dad so much (even though we don't always agree and he can be a little bit overprotective of me at times). I love to watch how God has changed him and done a 180 from who I knew him as a child. If you have ever had the chance to be around my dad, you can count yourself a lucky person indeed. As I get older, I realize how awesome of a man he is! I hope he is around for decades to come so that I can continue to learn from him and so that others can be blessed by knowing him, too.

Happy Valentine's Day, Dad! I love you!