Thanks Dad

I don't know how you're going to celebrate your father this week but since I've been thinking about my dad quite a bit lately I decided I wanted to just pause and say thanks to him and brag on him. My dad was born in 1926, a product of The Great Depression. His father, my grandpa, was a muleskinner in eastern Oklahoma while he and his brother, Jim, were growing up. My dad only went to school through the 8th grade around Hugo, Oklahoma, but he's one of the smartest, wisest men I know. There aren't many things my dad can't fix.

Anyway, he grew up dirt poor and he would tell you one of the best decisions he ever made was to join the Army, where he served one tour during the Korean War. Following his hitch in the service he met and married my mom, she being 16 at the time and he was 21. That means this year they've been married 60 years. My dad worked 38 years in the oilfield for the same company and retired when he was 62. He and my mom have lived in the same house since 1962, and attended the same church for over 50 years. Amazingly enough in todays fast changing, microwave world and unlike most people I meet they are the most content people I know. My dad worked hard all those years, supported his family of 3 kids and a stay at home wife and still saved enough money on a pumpers salary to live very comfortably and debt free.

The things I admire most about my dad are his steadfastness, his loyalty, and his contentment. I can only pray I have half of those qualities myself so that my daughter and my granddaughter can say the same about me.

Find something you can brag on your dad about this Father's Day, 2008, and tell him or write it down for him to read. It will be the best gift he receives this year.