Dad's Memorial

Today is my first day to catch my breath since we lost my Dad. His wish was to be cremated so we honored his wishes and held a Memorial on Tuesday. To be fair, it was the nicest one I'd ever been to...Pastor Hughes was wonderful, especially considering that we'd just met. And our family did a good job pulling together to create a slide show and a photo collage to be displayed with other pictures of Dad throughout the funeral home. I wrote his obit...finished it Father's Day morning, and then a few of us took the time to write our fondest memories of Dad, which the pastor read aloud and turned out to be pretty funny and bittersweet. Below is mine...it doesn't translate as well in print, it's a lot funnier when you read it aloud with a little exasperation from my end. :o) And here's the link to Dad's Obit

One of the things I loved the most about my Dad was his boundless enthusiasm for things in life. Some men are into cars, some are into sports, my Dad…well, he loved his boat. And when I say he loved it, I mean he LOOOOVED it. Like if my mom were to ever give him an ultimatum and say it’s either me or the boat, he might actually take a minute to think it over! It seemed like every time I came to the house he’d catch me before I got in the door, eager to show off the new toy or gadget he’d bought for it. Eyes shining and full of excitement he’d say, “Did you see the new seat I bought for the boat? Come look!” Before I could open my mouth to respond, he was already dragging me across the yard-and with a flourish of his arms that would make even the “Price is Right” girls proud, he’d puff up his chest with pride and say, “So…what do you think?!”

“It’s nice Dad.”

“Nice? Are you getting a good look at it?”

“Yeah I can see it fine, but it’s just a seat…”

“What do you mean just a seat? Do you know how long it took me to find this online? Here, you just need to climb up and get a feel for it.”

“Dad, I don’t want to climb up there.”

“Sure you do, come on!” And with that, I was yanked up into the boat and unceremoniously plopped down onto the seat. And I couldn’t help but to laugh because the look on his face told it all…he was supremely confident that once my butt hit that cushion, I would be as excited and giddy as he was.

Then, if it wasn’t the seat that had him grinning like a fool, it was the new trolling motor. Lord I think we actually heard about that one for DAYS!!! At one point I remember him even breaking out the owner’s manual at the dinner table and reading to us from it, telling us all the cool things he could do, especially with the little remote that strapped to his wrist like a watch.

But…that was Dad. It never took much to make him happy…he was just naturally excited and fulfilled by life. Whether it was something as small as a new boat seat or the 15 minutes of time he got me all to himself while trying to convince me my butt was much comfier in this seat than in the last…those were the things he cherished most. My father was an amazing Dad and Grandfather and I will ALWAYS carry the picture in my heart of his huge grin and the sheer happiness and excitement that radiated from him when he had us all together.

And if he were still here right now, I would gladly climb onto that boat seat with no complaints and tell him that it was the most amazing seat I had ever laid eyes on….