Today is my Dad's birthday. He is turning 80 years old! He is an amazing person. So I am having a once in a lifetime double birthday sale at my Etsy shop - everything is 40% off. That is the only shameless plug in this post.
My dad is a wonderful father and grandfather. We were always doing stuff with him - water skiing, snow skiing, flyfishing, sports, going places. Or he would be building stuff. Or he would be fixing stuff. I saw an episode of "Leave it to Beaver" the other morning, and I was struck at how much my father was actually like Ward Cleaver. Pretty calm, liked to do stuff, wanted us to do the right thing, and let us be kids. He went to an office every day (or was traveling) pretty much dressed like Ward Cleaver, in a suit and tie. He never complained about his job, I assume he liked it? As a self centered child, it probably never occurred to me to ask or even wonder about it. And my dad even knew how to do math, so he was very helpful with our math homework. I realize how important that is now, as I couldn't help my kids with their math very much after 7th grade. K is doing Geometry, something I could never really understand.
He was an Eagle Scout (although I don't know if he was one in this picture). And he really lived up to it throughout his whole life. He is honest, kind, and has integrity.
We have done some wonderful things with him. My father loves adventure. He and my oldest son went to Morocco - went river rafting there, rode camels, slept in tents, rode a bicycle down a mountain!! And yes, even met a monkey in a market. We went on a most amazing, once in a lifetime trip to Costa Rica with him (below are him and K in Costa Rica). As children we went to visit my grandparents lots and lots, but also to Mexico, Yellowstone, Disneyland, and skiing, and all kinds of cool places. He and my mother took us to Seattle to visit my sister and see the sites. For my parents 50th anniversary, they took all of us kids and the grandkids on a cruise - so much fun!
One last shot of him and K - flyfishing this past summer. One of the few activities that were allowed, which works out as flyfishing is his passion and he loves sharing it with his grandchildren and my brother and really anyone else. The pictures on the camera before this are very blurry - but they show an incredibly patient grandpa fixing the line, fixing the rod, and well, fixing everything. Cause that is what my dad has always done, fix everything.
I could go on and on about what a great person he is - how he came home from college when his dad had a stroke, how responsible and kind he is, how forgiving he was when I was not a good child, but mostly, I just wanted to share how much I love him. Love you Dad - so much!