Daddy it's been over 2 1/2 years that you've been gone now and still not a day goes by that I don't think about you. Life for me has been forever changed since loosing you and since mom got sick but you have given me signs consistently that you are still with me. I'm not sure I could have made it through these tough times without that so thank you for continuing to show me you are still by my side.
There are so many things I think about when I think about my dad but the front runner will always be how much he invested in me. He wanted to give me the greatest life as I was his little princess. He loved to surprise me. One day I remember coming home from school to find my favorite tree in the living room with a note on it. I don't remember what the note said but I remember planting it with him in our backyard. It was a weeping willow but as a kid I used to call them "hairy trees." One day he picked me up from school and had a parakeet in a cage in the car because, I guess I had mentioned I wanted a bird. As a teenager, he took me to a guitar shop to show me some guitars and ended up buying me a Fender (that I still have to this day), an amp and signed me up for guitar lessons. As an adult, I would mention in casual conversation with him, in person or over the phone, something I needed or wanted and a few days later a package would arrive on my doorstep and it would be the thing I had mentioned to him.
A special tradition that we had every year was my dad would pull me out of school one day in the month of May and we would spend it at the track watching the Indy cars practice for the upcoming 500 race. My first helicopter and private plane rides were also a spur of the moment decision by my dad for something fun for us to do, just the two of us. My dad and I were always together, whether playing miniature golf, a game of pool, playing Nintendo, going to Home-a-ramas or home shows, tooling around at Sam's Club or Service Merchandise, watching airplanes land at the airport or going to work with him, my dad's biggest investment in me was how much time he spent with me and it was always quality time.
A couple more stories worth mentioning: While we were at Kings Island when I was about 8 years old, I saw a large stuffed animal that I really wanted where you had to play one of those carnival type games to win it. My dad stood there and played that game for what seemed like hours until he won not only one for me, but one for my cousin and my friend that were with us as well. He also built me a skee-ball game from scratch because he knew it was my all-time favorite game. In my 20's while I was a server at The Olive Garden, around Easter time my dad came to my work and dropped off one of those huge Easter baskets for me, (one that has toys & candy in it meant for a young child) probably just to confuse or embarrass me lol.
There was nothing in life that my dad loved more than to tease me and as annoying as it was, I was often gullible enough to believe his fictitious stories. The very first time I rode on an airplane with my parents, my dad told me that when the plane hits the runway it has to take off very fast in order to lift off the ground and the forces are so strong that it will push our cheeks backwards so to counteract this we needed to push our cheeks forward in order for our appearance to not be effected. So as the plane took off, I complied with what I was told and of course my dad was dying laughing at me. Now that I have children of my own, I have passed this story down to them and to this day every time we are on a plane getting ready to take off I "hold my face" and tell them to hold theirs too in memory of him and his silliness.
My dad was not a perfect man but I can tell you he was a perfect dad and for that I'm forever grateful. Counting down the days until I see you again daddy. Love you forever and ever.
