Father's Day is a pretty fantastic opportunity to recognize all these men in our lives who've shaped who we are and who we're becoming. What I find interesting though, is that on Father's day we seem to celebrate all dads as one. We watch touching videos depicting common dad moments and laugh at montages of typical dad things. Mother's Day, to contrast, is a celebration of our each mother is special and wonderful. Comparing these days makes me a bit sad because we seem to sell dads a bit short.
We seem to say that they're all pretty much the same, that we're grateful for them even if they're just like every other dad ever. The buck is going to stop here though. My dad may seem to fit the stereotypical suburban dad role, but his impact in my life is more complex that a two sentence caption on a photo could explain, and I bet your dad's is too.
Friends, we can't take these guys for granted. As a teenage girl, I have no concept of what it would be like to be a dad, but I doubt it's easy. I'd just like to appreciate the influence my dad has chosen to have in my life.
Jon Hunter is a project manager for a construction company. He's been a husband for 20 odd years. He's a garage workbench guy. A watch golf and nap person. The one who'll do random things for his in-laws.
You get the picture. He's dedicated, compassionate, involved, intelligent, eccentric.
My life is being shaped by this guy. My dad is not a watch from the sidelines guy when it comes to me. He chooses to be involved, and the more aware I become of the world around me the more thankful I become. When we look at statistics, our dads become increasingly precious, not only with their physical presence, but in their emotional presence with their children. I am beyond grateful for him and his continuous influence, in both the big things and the littler ones.
Because of my Dad...
- I can work power tools
- I knock on walls and columns to see how they're structured
- I look to see how and where a building was remodeled
- I look for money on the ground and find quite a bit
- I lean down close to the cardboard boxes holding the watermelons so I can properly knock on them to see if they're ripe
- I cannot jump up and down or do too much of an excited happy dance upstairs because it jostles the filaments in the lights downstairs
- I can hang photos and art on the walls by myself like a boss
- I can change door hardware (and I did-for my entire house)
- I've caught myself saying "square to the world", " can't do it, wouldn't be prudent", and more
- I chew my nails and cuticles
- I watch a ton of public telivsion
- I've been asked "what did you do, take a light bulb class?" while explaining how to best choose white balance in photography
- I look an anomalies and all I want is a hypothesis or a pattern. I want to know why, and I'll make up something ridiculous to satisfy the need to know
- I count ceiling tiles when I'm bored
- The Sound Of Music is one of my favorite movies
- I like the hardware store
- I'm beginning to understand the power of the word "no"
- I cringe anytime I hear the word "plan" or, worse "do what you gotta do so you can do what you wanna do" (GAH!)
- I judge other people's analogies (his are so good they're bad and it physically pains me)
- I have my stance on the ethics of hunting all sorted out because HOW MANY TIMES CAN WE HAVE THIS CONVERSATION
- I can get out of the truck at lightning speeds
- I know way too much about fire sprinkler systems
- I can have a conversation with any elementary school soccer goalie about the angles and advantages of moving out of the penalty box
- I use unknown, strange, outdated, and sometimes nonexistent phrases is my writing because I think they're real things until I do some research
- I'm used to listening to outlandish ideas
- I like rocky road ice cream
- I'm sure this list will grow
Thanks for all this, dad.
Love you.
Happy Father's Day.
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