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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

My Dad is the One


Today is my dad's birthday. It's hard to write a tribute post without taking up far too much of your time and without spending weeks perfecting the narrative, but I'm giving it the old college try. (No idea where that expression comes from...anyone?)

My Dad is the one who got Anna and me a rabbit for Christmas one year...and then told us it ran away after it bit me one day.

My Dad is the one who coached my tee ball team. Who taught me how to throw like a boy but let me cry like a girl when I got beaned with a 2nd grader's errant first base throw.

My Dad is the one who taught me how to whittle and gave me my first Swiss Army pocket knife.

My Dad is the one who all throughout my childhood would look a waitress in the eye after she asked, "Is Pepsi okay instead?" and would reply, "We'll all just have water then."

My Dad is the one who took me on dates throughout my girlhood. From breakfast at McDonalds before I went off to kindergarten to a premiere with the prince for my Sweet 16.

My Dad is the one who would sneak lessons from Proverbs in on a family road trip and who taught me that the Bible was more than a collection of old stories.

My Dad is the one who would show me his Family Finances spreadsheet, complete with the little boxes that showed what happened to my college fund when Coke stock went up. I attribute my love of spreadsheets and Diet Coke to Dad to this day.

My Dad is the one who never failed to show up on the soccer game sidelines in a suit and tie and run up and down shouting encouragement.

My Dad is the one whose job meant moving every couple of years...and who taught me that it never gets easy to say good-bye, but that it gets easier to say hello each time.

My Dad is the one who took me shopping for a prom dress and then secretly went back and bought it for me after he looked at the price tag and said we needed to go home and think about it.

My Dad is the one who taught me to love business and came all the way to Athens to hear a b-school presentation he knew I was making.

My Dad is the one whose opinion I sought when B Daddy and I first started dating. And who told me he was a great catch when I was still on the fence.

My Dad is the one who gave me my brown eyes and who spun me around the dance floor to Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl at my wedding.

My Dad is the one who taught me that you can only buy love for a small window of time in a child's life... which is the reason my little niece Kate and I get along so well.

My Dad is the one who continues to teach me and gave me stick-shift lessons for my 29th birthday.

My Dad is the one who sacrificed much of himself to train me up and provide well for me and words cannot say how very blessed I am to have been gifted a dad like my Dad. Happy Birthday Dad, I love you.

14 comments:

  1. jealous. sounds like a great man.

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  2. It seems lame to say, "Ditto from me, Dad!" but I don't have a (working) blog so I'll say Ditto from your eldest, Dad (minus the stuff about BJ, brown eyes, and spreadsheets). Although I will add that I cannot listen to "Forever Young" without crying...Happy birthday Dad!

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  3. Your dad is the guy who used to wrestle with me and take the competition seriously. Being taken seriously by that guy at that age is pretty huge confidence-boosting stuff

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  4. Alden, I love that you remember that. Pretty cool stuff... :)

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  5. Katie - very well said! You had me misty-eyed by the end. You and Anna are lucky girls! Happy Birthday Charlie!!

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  6. Found this from word origins (whatever - I'm a word geek):

    "A newspaper column by that title by Billy Sunday which has a 1917 copyright by The Bell Syndicate Inc. Appears in an Elyria Ohio paper October of 1918.

    Actually, the evangelist puts the expression on the lips of the great Giants manager John McGraw who after watching an rookie outfielder just out of college miss a heroic catch which resulted in a homer. While the "sapient birds of the Giants gave the kid the cackle" McGraw is quoted as saying, "That's the eye, young fellow. The old college try."

    Also?

    That photo looks like it's straight out of a movie. You are ravishing, and your dad not only sounds amazing from how you describe him, but is pretty hunky too.

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  7. Rebecca thank you so much for the etymology lesson! (Or whatever the term for the study of phrases is...) and Dad is pretty hunky if you like your men a bit older. But he's very happily taken. :)

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  8. Katie, your dad taught me what real worship is at church. I remember watching him rock out up front at ICC and being enthralled. Your dad taught be more about my father as I watch my daddy cry the day your dad left. I watched him say goodbye to a friend and be heartbroken. Your dad is an amazing man...God truly broke the mold!

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  9. Really great post Katie! He is certainly a leader and he taught you as a daddy SHOULD, just most don't step up.

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