My Dad

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

  a time to be born and a time to die,    
  a time to plant and a time to uproot,
  a time to kill and a time to heal,
  a time to tear down and a time to build,
  a time to weep and a time to laugh,
  a time to mourn and a time to dance,

My Dad went to Heaven on February15.  He had aortic stenosis which weaken his heart.  I sat with him during his last week as the disease sapped his strength.  We watched it snow on Wednesday and then the sun came out by Saturday when he made his journey home.  

The verses from Ecclesiastes so describe my Dad.  He loved his garden.  He planted green beans, corn, October beans, onions, and tomatoes every year.  Just this past summer he was talking about planting strawberries and setting up a stand to sell them in his front yard.  He was a fisherman.  He loved catching fish and spent many hours on the local lakes.  He wouldn't ask my stepmother to cook them because she didn't like them, so he gave them to the neighbors.  He was a brick mason by trade.  At the visitation, so many people came up and said, "your dad bricked by house/chimney/porch."  His legacy will live on through his work for years to come.  He loved a good joke.  He spent many hours at the garage and I am sure the jokes rolled.  And, he loved to dance.  Not long ago, he said he wished he knew where there was a square dance.  I remember going to him to the American Legion when I was in my early 20s and dancing with him.  

As a child, I remember him to be a stern disciplinarian.  As an adult, I know that he instilled the work ethics I have today.  He was my rock when I got into trouble in my early 20s.  He was always there for me and I will miss him every day.  

Love you, Dad.