Father's Day

It's Father's Day and I miss my dad.

My dad always encouraged me to write.  He was always interested in what I was writing at the time and he was always bringing home Writer's magazines.  In a lot of ways he really fueled that passion for me.  He also came to almost every band concert, stood up and cheered for me regardless of my embarrassment, and always called me his "Little Doll".

When I was pregnant with my first child, he decided that I must need some clothes (I did) and he took me shopping.  He bought me a red dress.  Just like he did before I was born.  I think I never really grew up in his eyes.

He loved the Three Stooges and was adept at doing the "curly shuffle".  He loved the Dallas Cowboys, vanilla ice cream mixed with an ungodly amount of chocolate syrup, and dogs.  He didn't like the beach but he loved the mountains and almost every summer, he took us all for a trip into the Colorado Rockies.  I think that was where my love of geology was born.  Almost every place we camped and every gift shop we went into had some kind of gem or mineral laying around.  He instilled in me a love of the outdoors and of travel because of those summertime forays into the mountains.

He liked fishing and would sit in his armchair on the weekends with a paper in his hands while a fishing show was on.  I never understood the appeal of watching fishing on tv, but now that I have a fourteen year old son and River Monsters comes on, I get it.

He taught me how to bowl.  I still like to go bowling even though I don't have the opportunity to do it often.

Probably the most important thing my dad did for me was teach me, through his example, that it's never too late to learn.  He worked as a lineman for TXU and decided he wanted more, so he went to school at night and got a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering.  He continued working towards his master's and became an electrical engineer at TXU.  He loved his job.  Designing sub-stations and working on the nuclear power plant were a couple of projects that he talked about often.  He was wicked smart and lived up to his potential in that regard.  Because of him and because of that example, I know I can live up to mine, too.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.  I love you and I miss you.