He taught us how to crawl, walk and run.
He taught us how to ride three wheels, then two wheels, then four.
He taught us to let off the clutch and push on the gas.
He taught us how to throw, catch, and swing.
To dribble, pass, rebound and shoot.
He taught us how to win with humility and lose with grace.
He taught us how to pitch a tent, tie a knot and make a fire.
How to bait a hook and wait and wait and wait and pull!
He taught us how much he loved us and how to have fun by building an ice rink in the back yard in the winter and a GoCart track in the summer.
He taught us patience with road trips to California, Oregon, Washington, and North Dakota.
He taught us greater patience by making us wait to open our Christmas presents until after all the clients opened theirs. This also taught us the thrill of anticipation.
He taught us responsibility with horses, cows, sheep, chickens, goats, ducks and dogs, any animal but a cat.
He taught us that you can never respond correctly to the question, “have you ever kissed a pig all you wanted?”
He taught us what happened if you pulled his finger.
He taught us who saw wood, and who heard sheep.
He taught us no matter how far the game or how big the mistake, you can never be without his love and support.
He taught us how to be well rounded by taking us to BYU basketball and football games, the Zoo, the ice-capades, the theater, the deer hunt and the circus.
He taught us the difference between a weed and a flower.
He taught us that Saturday morning cartoons did not start until after the chores were done and the garden was weeded. And that if you slept past 8, half the day was wasted. (Well, maybe Denise didn’t learn that lesson.)
He taught our boyfriends that everything he needed to say could be said with one long silent stare.
He taught us cheating at cards is fun, but only if you get caught.
He taught us that it takes 4 stacks of 10 to make a quarter roll.
He taught us that on a wet spring you can’t always drive a ’63 Chevy through the Provo river on a Sunday afternoon.
He taught us what it took to be a great home teacher.
He taught us to honor our parents by treating his like royalty.
He taught us that if he cooked the meal, he did not have to clean it up.
He taught his house guests that if they didn’t go to church, then they had to fix Sunday dinner.
He taught us that strangers are just friends we haven’t met yet.
He taught us that if your legs stop working you can get around even faster on a golf cart.
He taught us to honor our ancestors with his love of family history.
He taught us to make sure our spouse know we loved them by telling them every day.
He taught us, “when it is time to work, work hard. And when it is time to play, play hard.”
He taught us to love nature by creating a bird sanctuary in the backyard.
He taught us he was done visiting when he turned up the volume on the TV.
He taught us to love unconditionally and to forgive continuously.
He taught us how to love by serving others.
He taught us how to pray.
How to read the scriptures.
He taught us how to repent.
He taught us the Gospel.
He taught us that our Redeemer lives.
And most important, he taught us that families are forever.
I asked my facebook friends, “if you could only use one word to describe my dad, what would it be?” Here is what they said-
Caring, generous, loving, giving, saint, heartfelt, compassionate, daddy, kind, amazing, selfless, awesome, rock!
A few friends didn’t read the rules correctly and said, “The best card player I know and grandpa” & “the best grandpa I know.”
One friend replied “I can't do it in one word: Big, warm, caring, happy, charitable, intelligent, loving, funny, teddy bear of a man! Plus, lots of other positive words.”
And another summed up my question perfectly with this response, “What's the word for someone who always made you feel special when you walked into the room, who always made you feel welcome, who would always give you a hug, who always made you smile, who always had an endearing story to share, who was always generous and thoughtful? That's the word I would use to describe your dear, sweet dad!”
.JPG)
+(3).JPG)
1 comment:
Lez..thanks for sharing! I loved reading this about your DAD! He will truly be missed...I loved having him on our away games..what a trooper to follow us on road trips with doughnuts:)
Post a Comment