Dad's Big Day

  My father's birthday was yesterday and I feel so privileged to write this post about him.  He is a 17-year-old trapped in the body of a middle-aged man.  When I was a teenager, my sister made a ball out of taffy.  My Dad thought it was a great idea to bounce it on the floor.  It didn't, so he got the great idea that it would stay together if he sat on it.  He did and it didn't.  We were picking taffy off that chair for a long time.  I just stood there laughing that a grown man would be so teenagery.  It is one of my favorite memories.
  Another favorite memory was when we went to the spiral jetty several years ago.  Esther was probably three.  My Dad hooked his GPS unit up to his computer so that he could have access to different features (don't ask me for specifics because I am really dumb when it comes to computers).  He was able to see the truck driving on the road (before this was a common feature) and he was obviously giving us directions.  We turned onto this cow path in the middle of somebody's pasture and he wouldn't let us go to the road that was 30 feet to the right because the GPS unit said we were on track.  Nobody believed we were going the right way but him.  I was laughing harder than I've ever laughed and Esther told me to stop laughing because it wasn't funny.  Then my bro-in-law decided he'd had enough of driving over sagebrush so he left the path and got onto the road.  My Mom tried to do the same and he told her not to because we were on the right road.  She ignored him and did it anyway.  When we got to the road, he said something like, "This might get us there, too"  Needless to say, we followed the road, the real one, home.  My Dad loves his gadgets.
  We struggled with our relationship over the years because I was an ornery little stinker, but we became really good friends when I worked for him over the summer before we moved to Southern Utah.  I gained an even greater respect for his vast abilities and he gained a greater respect for me and my abilities.  The best moment was when he asked my advice on a project he was working on and said, "You're smart, maybe you can help me."  That felt so good.
  He is always willing to help anybody in need and is very generous with his time and resources.  He makes it very clear that his family is his best source of joy and my Mom is at the center of that.  He has always let it known that he loves her and still gives her slobbery kisses just to bug the ones that think kissing is gross.  I love my Daddio and am so blessed that he is mine.
  Happy birthday!