To a Really Great Guy

Last night I read this beautiful tribute that my daughter-in-law Karen wrote to her father, and I realized that I wanted to pay tribute to the extraordinary man who happens to be the father of my children. I don't have much time to do this right now, so I'm just going to do what I can and see what comes up.

What are some things that have made him a great and fun dad?

He offered good choices for the children:
• Where on your plate do you want your peas?
• Would you rather go to bed right side up or upside down?

That last one was especially fun, and of course the kids always wanted upside down. He would turn them upside down, have them "walk on the ceiling" down the hall and plop them on their beds.

It was fun to see the kids line up for running hugs from dad. They did that for years. He finally decided they were too big when they practically knocked him over when they jumped into his arms.

His patience and long suffering--He was always willing to be the donkey in our traditional family Christmas pageant. Helena would put a set of long, floppy, brown construction paper ears on him and off he'd go. It wasn't until much later that I realized how much it must have hurt his bony knees to crawl around on the hardwood floor with "Mary" on his back.

He was never a scout master, but was always willing to go on the Father & Sons camp outs. And how about the times he went on those Young women excursions? I seem to remember a certain back packing trip when someone I know just couldn't carry her backpack any longer, and dad came to the rescue.

There was also the volunteering every year to help with sports day at school, going to all the concerts and sporting events, and being the chess club adviser for several years.

Here's a picture of that great dad. I'm sure more could be said. Perhaps the kids would like to add a few comments about things they remember.

(Just ignore the mess on the table. It seems there are often messes in life that we'd rather not have in the picture, and life is too short to worry about them. ^_^)

I'd also like to share a few things about Jim the person, and Jim the husband.

He has been extremely teachable. He never has been much of a people person, and is not one to notice what's going on around him, but he is willing to take suggestion as long as it is offered in a kind manner.

He is an extremely willing worker, and has a great heart for giving service. He has helped so many church members move that he has become really proficient at packing boxes tightly in moving vans so the things don't shift around.

Sometimes he does take notice, and then take action. Once there was a snow storm during an evening Relief Society meeting, and he went over and cleaned the snow off of all the ladies' cars so they could drive home more easily. This kind of thing is typical of him.

Sometimes he has been exasperating to live with because he's an engineer, but that has been a learning experience for both of us. He really isn't being mean when he says things like, "Well the moon won't actually be full until 1:17 tomorrow night…"

He may sing a little off key, but he does it with enthusiasm.

From him I have learned kindness, not just because he has learned to be kind to me, but because I have also learned to be kind to him. I was really dumb when we got married. I think that most people are, and that's one of the reasons people are able to get married in the first place.

I had no clue how hard it would be to develop a really close relationship with another person, and frankly there were times of big disappointment. My knight in shining armor had a few rusty spots and chinks that were especially aggravating to me. I could tell though that when I pointed these out to him that it only made him discouraged and afraid to try harder.

Finally I was able to be wise enough to admire him as a person, and to express sincere appreciation when he did things that I especially liked. How often do we notice when people let us down, and forget to comment about the good things we do?

I gradually learned that with my children and my husband, great strides would eventually be made by noticing the baby steps they take in the right direction.

Baby steps! Isn't that what life is all about anyway? We all do the best we can, but with encouragement from those who care, we will become who we are meant to be.