Once upon a time there was a dad

He didn't start out as a dad. He was a kid once, and had adventures in high school and college and lived in Japan for lots of years. I'm sure he had a somewhat fulfilling life before his brilliant kids came into the picture, but that's for another post.

One day he became a dad. Actually 4 times he did. He learned to balance studying and work and church callings and marriage, and then suddenly he had these super amazing kids he had to make time for, too.

 He did a good job with all that juggling. He took us lots of fun places, like ghost towns. Sure, maybe he was trying to get away from all those things he had to juggle, and we were poor, and cellphones hadn't been invented yet, so ghost towns it was. Sometimes we just drove and drove and drove, to nowhere in particular, all of us piled into the Buick and listening to Mystery Theater Radio. I'm sure us 4 obedient children never argued on those long rides.

Even if we were arguing (which probably never happened), dad never got mad (okay, his face turned red and he looked like he was yelling, but he had such a quiet voice that the louder he tried to shout, the quieter his voice got) he would give us The Look. The one where he tips his chin down a little and raises his eyebrows as his eyes boor into our souls. And it totally worked -- I hated disappointing him.

His hard-earned days off went toward father-daughter activities, and scout camps, and talent-filled piano recitals. And his hard-earned money all went to braces for his 4 attractive kids, perms (lots of perms)(not usually for him, but for the three females in the house who succumbed to the perm) and the aforementioned talent-filled piano lessons. And while other dads might have read a book or watched sports or wrestled alligators, all of his spare time went to helping his exceptionally brilliant oldest daughter not fail math (which is where a lot of The Look had to come into play...).

 Then one day this dad had all his kids married off and became a grandpa. He travels across the country over and over and over to help his responsible 4 kids move to new homes, or baptize the-best-ever grandkids. He puts on silly hats and plays at the playground and listens to fascinating facts about Lego's for hours at a time without complaining once. He deserves an award. Or a kiss on the cheek.

We're so lucky to have you in our life. I love you dad <3