This man is celebrating a birthday - a milestone birthday, for sure. My earliest recollection of him was a tall, gangly, yet purposeful person who embraced every day of his life with nothing but enthusiasm. He was always tough, yet fair.....always challenging, yet charitable.....intense, yet fun....and stern, yet loving. I learned, from him, that a job is never DONE until it is COMPLETE. You can paint a whole house but the job isn't done until everything is back in its place and you can admire the work in its normal environment. That type of work ethic is part of my DNA.
He taught me how to swing a bat, pass a football and shoot a basket, among other things. When I was a starter on my high school football team, he was there for every game, ready with encouragement and some constructive criticism when the game was over.
He is the main reason for my love of music. From earliest memory, I could always hear music in our house, whether it be a radio, a stereo or him, strumming his guitar and singing to me. And, yes, put the guitar on the list of things he taught me.
I am who I am today due to his guidance, strength and love. He is celebrating 90 years of life on this earth and starting way back on a summer night at age 6, in an emergency room when I heard "Don't worry, Daddy is right here", he has been ever since.
Dad, thanks for being "right here" from day one. I hope that I turn out to be half the human being you have turned out to be. Happy 90th Birthday!
1 comment:
Very nice!!
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