Happy Birthday Dad!

Girls Camp is over, time to resume normal life. For months my life has been consumed by Girls Camp, and even my nights were taken over because my brain wouldn't turn off. This was my sixth year as the Stake Camp Director, so it's not new, and I've got the process down, but it's still time consuming. I love Girls Camp, and we had a great year. Maybe I'll post about it later. Today I wanted to write about something else.


Today would have been my dad's 67th birthday, but he passed away from ALS almost seven years ago. Even though I'm a grown up, it is still a little painful to think about not having my dad around. Of course, I miss him, but I grateful to have grown up with such a great dad and to have such good memories of him.


My early memories come in bits and flashes, but I'm lucky to have seven siblings who help fill in my gaps. I grew up in Arizona, and I vaguely remember my dad bringing Mexican families to our house to sleep or eat. He was conservative politically, and believed the smaller the government the better. It wasn't government's job to help people, it was ours. And he practiced what he preached. He was the first to volunteer to help someone at church- moving, yard work, blessings, whatever was needed. I remember him picking up hitchhikers, until it became a safety issue and women especially quit looking for rides. He would pull over and help women with car problems. He was big and capable and could fix almost anything.

He was a gentleman. He opened doors for Mom and us girls and expected his boys to learn how to be gentleman too. I learned from him that a man should let a lady out of an elevator first and you'd be surprised how rare that is now. I think my husband learned how to be a gentleman from my dad and I am reminded of that everytime he opens a car door for me.

My dad worked hard all of his life- something he learned from his parents. He rarely relaxed and was a bit of a work-a-holic. He'd work around the house and when we asked him what he was doing he'd say "mildewing". For a long time I didn't understand that was a joke. Even though he was a hard worker and could get really sweaty, he was a clean person. He always smelled of Old Spice and was usually freshly shaved. He kept his drawers tidy too- so tidy, he could tell if something was missing; and with eight kids something usually was.

I'm a hugger- in part because of my dad. He hugged everyone and liked to say you were getting an "abrazzo"- Spanish for hug, and he would pound your back a little with his free hand as he was hugging. He was just a friendly guy and would strike up a conversation with anyone. As a teenager it was a little embarrassing to have a dad who was so friendly, but now as a mom I appreciate the ability to talk with strangers-even if it embarrasses my kids!

I'm glad my kids are old enough to have memories of their grandpa. I share mine with them, and we make sure to keep those memories alive. Tonight we're going to put flowers on his grave and we'll share some more memories. Then of course we'll all hug, and my dad would have like that.

Happy Birthday Dad!