A Non-Africa Blog...Thinking About My Dad

It has been a long time since my earthly father passed away. I still think about him all the time. I have said many times to lots of people that he was one of the most important people in my life. I still believe that he was the best dad of all dads!

Last week Jodie, my co-worker here with me in TZ, had a dream, and she told me that my dad was in her dream. I thought that was really cool. I have photos of my parents so she knows what my dad looked like but she never knew him when he was alive. I have told Jodie many things about my dad so when she told me about her dream it made me smile.
I love the memories I have of my dad growing up. I love that the last day I spent with him we hugged three different times throughout the day and I sat on his lap and told him I loved him and made him an ice cream sundae with his favorite ice cream for dessert after dinner. It wasn’t any sort of a special day…just a regular day for us.

I am not sure why I am feeling so sentimental about my dad…well, I know why I am feeling sentimental – I miss that man – but not sure why I am putting it all on a blog.
I realize that after all these years I can think of one of my “dad memories” and it still makes me smile, laugh, and feel so extremely loved by him. He deposited so much in me that I am still full from his love.
So many of my fun “dad” memories come from camping…so many of them! One that I think of a lot was the time when I walked back to our campsite and seeing my cousin Cathy sitting on my dad’s lap while he was sitting in one of his camping chairs under a tree reading a book. I asked Cathy what she was doing sitting with my dad and she told me that she wanted to enjoy him the way I do. That spoke something so strong and sweet in me…my dad is wonderful and I am not the only one who loves just being with him!

The last time I was in CA for a visit and I went to the dentist for a check-up the dentist and his asst shared a fun memory they have of my dad. In fact so did the receptionist. They made my day! He left an impression on so many people who knew him, but for me he did so much more. I am so blessed because of him.

My dad loved to laugh and tell those goofy jokes that don’t really make sense. He loved to sing songs that he made up from the tune of well-known songs. He loved to play ping-pong and my brothers liked to challenge him. He enjoyed reading. Whenever he picked up milk from 7-11 he always came back with Slurpees for us. He enjoyed my mother’s cooking and preferred it to eating out. We never opened our gifts on Christmas morning until my dad had his coffee in his hand. He enjoyed wearing slippers inside and out. On Saturday mornings when he went through the mail and wrote the bills he called the trash “file K” as he threw the junk mail in there. He loved to sit and chat. When I was growing up and went through a growth spurt and it seemed that all at once I was too tall for everything, my dad sat on my bed with me and held me as I cried and he whispered to me how beautiful I was to him.

To this day I still thank my Heavenly Father for my earthly father.