Six Peeps

June 20, 2007

HAPPY BELATED FATHERS DAY!

Yep, up there, that’s the guy. My dad! I know this post is a couple days late, but this is my dad on Fathers Day - I went out to visit him over a round of golf at the Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Course. It was a ton of fun, then we had a big ol’ BBQ, some cocktails, and all that good stuff.

My dad has always been my #1 fan. Always optimistic and always my best source of good advice, my Dad places family at the top of his priorities. And now that he is finished with his career in the Air Force (33 years to a retired Colonel), you can tell that he is loving life spent with family. I love that he’s only a 45 minute drive away, and I know that splurge day is the best day to visit, because he is always cooking amazing food. Mostly italian food, of course!

My favorite memories with my dad come from when I was really young, like 6 years old. My dad had this old red Fiat (Italian sportscar) convertible. We’d go out on a saturday, or even a Sunday (sometimes he and I would skip church), and while my mom and sisters were doing the church thing, we’d go off to “Hugh M Woods” and pick up some lumber, or whatever… always manly stuff, you know. Then on our way home we’d be cruising along and suddenly my dad would shout, “ahhh the car is trying to drive us somewhere!”. He’d act like the car was driving itself and even though my dad was totally straining to fight the steering wheel from the car, he was overpowered! I seriously thought this was really happening. After about 5 minutes of this losing battle, the car would park itself right in front of a Dunken Donuts.

“Ahhhh man, well, I guess the car wants us to have a donut, Marky!” I hope someday when I have kids, he’ll do that to them, too.

Every outing with my dad was an exciting adventure and whether it was to the grocery store, the park to fly a kite (he loves simple things like that), or cross country to visit family, there’s no place I’d rather be than hanging out with my dad.

The most important lesson my dad has ever taught me: “Three words, Mark: JUST BE NICE”. If you can JUST BE NICE, and consistantly, on a regular basis, no matter how mean the other person is to you, if you can JUST BE NICE, you will always come out the better person. And in the long run, you can look forward to low-stress relationships, a longer life, and one which you are at peace with yourself.

So thanks Dad, for everything. I can’t imagine having a better Father in my life - I love you!

June 20, 2007 |