Lucky Dorito

I just love having Guest Bloggers! I hope you do as well…. The following is from my sweet friend Jean!

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Well, it’s Father’s Day.. and I’ve been contemplating fatherhood. What is it that makes a great Father? I think mine has it hands down, whatever “it” is. I’m the original “daddy’s girl”! I’ve always believed the sun rose and set in my dad.. and my nieces feel the same way about their grandpa. I’ve compared him, over the years, to other people’s dads, and even to men I’ve been with, (to their detriment!) and I can say I’ve identified a few things that I believe are essentials.

#1- He’s happy to be a Dad. My dad always wanted to be a dad, and enjoys it.. he never did a lot of stuff outside the family.. he did it with us or he didn’t do it. Not everything, just most. He and mom did some things on their own…but he didn’t want to do much on his own, without her and/or us. He just enjoyed having his own family around best.

#2- He knew he needed to be someone to look up to. When we were growing up, my dad never used curse words, or told dirty jokes (at least in front of us); never lied or tried to “take” someone in some way. He was a strong, brave, gentle man, with a set of ethics you could take to the bank.

#3- He never lied to us. He might have been wrong at times ( I don’t remember any), but if he told us we were going to do something, or have something, or go somewhere, we did. Of course, that also meant if we did wrong, we got exactly what we knew we would, too!

#4- He respected and loved our mother. My folks are not fans of the “little” putdowns many people pass off as humor. Too often they mask a dissatisfaction with the other that should be addressed. I’ve never heard my father “put down” my mother in any way…he does acknowledge her faults, but it’s clear he loves her anyway! And if we talked back or treated her with disrespect, we knew exactly what my father would do!! He did not tolerate it at all.

#5- He did the “dad” stuff with us. We played ball, “we” worked on the car, we swam, we skied, he acted “silly” to make us laugh, he taught us to smoke grapevines, tie knots, light firecrackers safely, ride a horse, drive the boats, then the car. He held us when we were scared, he killed bugs, he made the bully down the street give back what he took. He just had our backs..we knew we could always run to dad with a problem and he would fix it!

#6- He made us feel safe. I knew, as long as my dad was there, nothing could touch me. He would have cut his own hand off with a butter knife before he would have hurt us or allowed us to be hurt, in any way..

#7- He trusted us. As we grew up, he would not let mom “baby” us. He believed he had taught us the right thing to do, and we would do it. For the most part, he was right. And he knew that, too. He believed kids would pull a few things, and didn’t get too worked up about it, depending on what it was. As long as it didn’t include lying, cheating, stealing or anything that would hurt someone else, he’d probably think it was funny.

#8- He loves us. He’s not a “touchy, feely” person, but he always made sure we knew he loved us and was proud of us. No matter what we wanted to do in life, he was (and is) proud of us.

#9- Nothing changed. If it was wrong yesterday, it will be wrong tomorrow. I don’t remember ever getting swatted by Dad..but what he could do with a look!!!! I was DEVASTATED by the “I’m so disappointed” look or talk… I would BURST into tears and stop what ever it was immediately!!! Of course, as the perfect child, it only happened once. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!!

And all these things go on down to the grand children and great grandchildren. He’s at his happiest, sitting in his recliner, with a couple of kids on his lap reading a book to him and the rest of the family all around. I’m sure I’ve forgotten at least a dozen things I wanted to say, but I think I’ve covered the most important ones. So..to the best dad in the world and all those like him:

Happy Father’s Day!!!

If you missed Jean’s *Mom-story*, you can read it here!

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