Belated Father's Day Wishes

I am a Daddy's girl. I know it. I can't help it. You see, my Dad is a workaholic, so gaining his attention and affection was a goal of mine growing up. Some of my earliest memories are of growing up on the farm in Manitoba. My Dad would work in the fields all day, come in for supper (or we would drive it out to him in the fields) and then go out and do work around the yard or back into the fields again in the evening. I remember my Mom putting me to bed at night and NOT being able to fall asleep until my Dad yelled, "Good night, Fion!" up the stairs. Yes, there have been times when I begrudged my Dad for not being around much, but as I've gotten older, I've begun to let that go. I know that he provided for my family very well and we were blessed with many things that my friends didn't have ... and that was because he worked so hard. But looking back now, I would give up a lot of those "things" we had just to have him spend a bit more time with us.


One of my best memories is from Grade 12. It was awards day at school and I was hoping to get Athlete of the Year. As I left the house, my Mom asked why I was all dressed up and I said, "Just because" or "Last week of school" or something like that. Since I didn't know if I was getting the award and I wanted it really badly, I didn't want to tell my parents that I might be getting it in fear that I wouldn't, and then everyone would know my disappointment. Well, when we were being ushered down the hall to go to the gym for the awards ceremony, I saw my parents in the hallway. Right then I knew I was getting the award because the school must have called them otherwise why were they there because I hadn't said anything. Anyways, the point I'm getting at is that the awards ceremony was during the day, so for my Dad to be there, he must have taken time off of work to come and see me get this award and that meant a lot to me. He took many pictures of me and of course embarrassed me by making me get my picture taken with Mr. Mouat (the man my school was named after who was about 99 years old), but now I'm glad I have that picture (I'd insert it here, but darn, all my old pictures are in storage ... ha ha).


This sounds like I didn't think my Dad was a good Dad, and that's not what I'm meaning to say. I've talked to my Dad about him not being around much when I was growing up, so it's not a secret. It's just part of our story .. good or bad.


My Dad came from the generation where you MUST be a hard worker if you wanted to get ahead because they were farm kids growing up and most of them didn't get to finish High School because they had to help their Dad's on the farm. His Dad came to this country with nothing and made a good life for himself, so I'm sure my Dad wanted to make his Dad proud as well and follow in his footsteps. And my Dad did just that. He has been in the construction industry for well over 40 years and many companies have asked him to do projects for him all over the place. He's done very well for himself.


My Dad is the guy that most everyone loves. He'll talk to ANYONE (seriously ... anyone), he's funny (ok, funny might not be the right word ... you know that Dad sense of humour that you kind of roll your eyes at, but he tries at least), he calls everyone Buddy (mostly because he can never remember their name), he likes his yard neat and tidy and his vehicles clean. Every time I'm at their place, one of my cousins or Uncle or Aunts is calling him and my Mom to say hi, ask if they can come over or ask for some help. That may not sound like a big deal, but my Mom has 11 siblings and my Dad has 9, so there are a LOT of Uncles, Aunts and cousins to choose from, and I'm proud that my relatives feel so comfortable to call on my parents. My parents also make an effort to be involved in their lives now that they are adults (my cousins, that is), which I think is cool.

In the last couple of years, I can tell that my Dad has been working on bettering himself. As I've gotten older, he's called me for advice on things, asked me where he went wrong as a Dad and told me many times how proud he is of me. At first it kind of freaked me out that my Dad was asking ME for advice, but it has definitely brought us closer and helped me understand him better. I like that he feels he can talk to me about stuff that's on his mind, and believe me, I'm not afraid to call him out on something if I feel he's in the wrong. Maybe I should say, I'm glad that he's not scared to talk to me about stuff. ha ha Watching him treat me as an adult instead of his "baby" has been a great transition (although I do enjoy still sitting on his lap like I'm still his "little" girl).

So there you have it. I'm a Daddy's girl. I love my Mom equally and I know that she got shafted a bit by readily showing me her love and not making me work for it, but I've been trying to make up for that in the last couple of years, too. Hopefully she's noticed a difference in my return of affection for her.

Happy Belated Father's Day, Dad! I love you.

The people who's place I'm currently staying at are relatives on my Dad's side, and when I saw this picture on the wall, it freaked me out because it looked like my Dad. I said, "Who's that?" to which they answered, "That's your Dad's Grandpa." Of course it is! Don't they look alike? I think that's so cool.



Now, for something funny for a Father's Day tribute. My niece, Bailey, made her Dad a card and I had the pleasure of being able to see it. In this card she put different memories of her Dad over the years. Take a read ...

Aaaaah!

Cute!

After he put their dog to sleep. :(

I wish I could hear you all laughing right now. Isn't that awesome? When she saw us laughing, she honestly didn't know why. This was just another memory of her Dad and she innocently put it down on paper ... and THAT'S what makes it so cute. It was hard to convince her that we weren't laughing AT her but that we really LOVED her card. Too cute!