my dad
There are things I learned from my dad that I didn’t even know I’d learned until I was much older. He was my dad. He was usually gone when I got up and after supper he was relaxing and we were leaving him alone to do so. It wasn’t like it is today. Dad’s went to work, came home, ate supper, relaxed and went to bed in an endless cycle of making a living. Weekends were usually spent doing yard and garden work, working on cars or home projects. It was my life and I was happy.
When I was twelve, things changed a bit. Our dad started going to church and I saw a lot more of him then. It was a 20 mile ride to church and back and we were there at least four times per week. At church we learned that if our dad looked at us, we had better straighten up. If our dad pointed his finger at us during church we straightened up and then were very quiet on the drive home –hoping he would forget the incident. If he told us we were in trouble, it was the longest 20 minute ride home. A ride you hoped would never end and at the same time you were wishing it over. It was my life and I was happy.
Times changed. Our dad started preaching and we were going to different churches in hopes of finding the right place. This was fun, we met a lot of new people and were always hopeful that the perfect church was right there waiting for us. By the time I was ending my junior year in high school, we found that place. Our family moved to DeQueen. It wasn’t Beverly Hills, there were not any movie stars or swimming pools; but there were people who wanted us to be there. Moving meant going to a new school, new friends, new church routines, new everything. It was my life, I adjusted and I was happy.
During this time of teenage angst and struggle, I’m sure I embarrassed and annoyed our dad. There were times he embarrassed and annoyed me. Face it, telling a guy he had to ask your dad before you could go get a coke was both annoying and embarrassing. But I learned things. I learned that you get up every morning and go to work. I learned that you don’t always eat the food on the table so the kids will have food. I learned that you only got new socks at Christmas because the rest of the year the kids had to have stuff. I learned that you had to make choices. It was my life and I was happy.
I learned that no matter what I did, my dad would back me up in public. He might make me wish I was dead and gone when I got home but I didn’t have to worry about his support in public. I learned that no matter how hard he had to work, he did his best to get us what we needed and some of what we wanted. I learned that when he said No, I didn’t ask again. I learned that when I wrecked the car, he really didn’t kill me. When I disappointed him, he cried. That impacts a person. It changes the way you think about your dad when you’re a child and how you perceive him as an adult. It was just life and you had to be happy.
Today, life is different. I have my own life and my own children. The things I learned from my dad have affected how I’ve raised my own children. Some lessons I tossed by the wayside, only to pick them up again. Some lessons, I’ve changed so they fit better. My dad made me able to make a life for my own family. It’s my life and I’m happy and I owe it to my dad.
Happy father’s day to a dad who always loved me even when I didn’t really know what it cost him.
I feel like with this story I wasn’t a lone. I can remember all my Dad had to do was one single look and you knew what he was thinking and you better stop. My Dad taught me so much about honor and what a real man was. He never took a day off unless something really important happened. That material things didn’t matter he would rather give us a education then a new bike once a year. No matter what he would always be there.
Donna Marie
I can relate to this story. My dad does the same routine five days a week: go to work , come home to relax, eat dinner, watch pig trail, and go to sleep to do it all over again the next day. On weekend, me and my dad will do yard work or go fishing. The important thing is, he taught me the value of little things such as clothes and shoes. He told me stories about how hard it was growing up in the country of Saratoga, Arkansas. That he wanted me to have a better life than what he had growing up. One thing he told me to always remember was to keep god first and I would make it through anything.