Father’s Day

With next week being Father’s Day I thought I’d tell a story about my dad. It doesn’t involve me and happened before I was born.

It is a story dad loved to tell and he told it to me so many times.

My sister will have to correct me if I get any of the details wrong because it involves her as well.

Nell asked dad if she could play with his hair, he didn’t have much for her to brush and play with but he told her yes she could do that. I don’t remember how old she was when this happened.

He fell asleep soon after she began, when he woke he decided he needed to go to town for something (I honestly can’t remember what for if he told me).

As he was walking around town he began to notice people were looking at him and laughing. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out why.

Then he looked in a storefront window, Nell had put pin curls on his head with Bobbie pins. He became very angry yanking them out one by one making his way to the car. By the time he got to the car he was laughing at how ridiculous he must have looked to all of those people.

He told he that he couldn’t be mad at Nell because he had given her permission to play with his hair.

He would end the story with let that be a lesson to always look in the mirror before you leave the house.

He was a man that loved Jesus, his family and friends. He had an infectious smile and even more infectious laugh. He would say it’s better to laugh than cry and he was so right. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had him as a father.

This next story is mine, dad was working on the car in front of the house. He had it backed in facing out with the fence behind it. He told me to get in the car and push down on the gas. I said I don’t want to do that and he said go on and do it. It’s fine, it’s in neutral, I get in the care, a 1972 Ford Ranchero.

I pushed down on that gas pedal and the car went backwards into the fence. He and I just stared at each other, our eye were big and round.

Mom came flying out of the door and looked at dad and said Drivers Ed. He and I just stared at each other then her, dad said alright.

She went back in the house and dad said I guess it was in reverse. I don’t think I said anything, just handed him the keys and walked away. The dent in the fence was there until the day they moved out.

Some days I miss him more than others, I miss his advice, his humor and his steadfast love of the Lord. It was unwavering, even with a handful of a daughter like me.