I wasn’t sure what blogging meant. When my son explained that it was like journal entries that are shared, I was so excited. Journaling was familiar and therapeutic. As I write this blog about my Dad, I find that the feelings of familiarity and comfort encase my soul.

Heaven gained a very strong man a few weeks ago. As I write this blog, I hope I can justly describe my Dad. For me, my dad was familiar in a sense that perhaps all dads are familiar to their children but for me dad was familiar in the sense that he was consistent. He was consistent in his love, in his compassion, in his strength, in his Values and in his ability to endure. It was never a surprise to find out that dad had mowed a lawn, hung a door, swept a porch, changed a tire, planted a tree or made mom Belgium waffles on her birthday. Familiar because that was my dad. He couldn’t sit still….he couldn’t be idle, he rarely relaxed unless there was a good football game on. It makes me smile at all the times he would say “ Baby Girl, you should slow down” spoken from the mouth of a man who didn’t know how to practice that preach. Familiar in his dress, his smell and his slicked back hair. Dad was tall in stature and character, Short on words and conversation, strong on family unity and valiant till the day he left us.

A few days before he passed through the veil he was in extreme pain and discomfort. He whispered to me that he must have done something very terrible and wrong in his life. I was so confused. I believed my father to be the greatest man and was honored to be his daughter. He said he must have done something very wrong to have to suffer this greatly. My heart swelled in sadness. I knew that my father’s life had been one challenge after another. He definitely lived a refiner’s fire life. I know that he is being shown through a loving Father in Heaven, all the good he did. All the lives he touched, all the smiles he created, all the laughs he instigated and all the acts of service he graciously preformed. He will be shown his worth. I miss him daily. He was my biggest fan. He always called me pretty girl (even as I became an old gal) and I never doubted his love. My memories of him will fill my heart with happiness. He will live on through my children. My oldest is the artist in him, my second is the handyman in him and my daughter has his strong work ethic. What a blessing to be constantly reminded of one of the greatest.

Thanks Dad, we love you around the world and back again a thousand million times never ever stopping.