Happy 100th Birthday Dad

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Today is my dads birthday. He would have turned 100 years old today. It is impossible to express the influence my dad has had on my life. He is the person who made me the man I am today. Even though he’s been gone for twenty seven years, I always think of him and I hear his voice in my head giving me strength and direction.

I don’t ever remember my Dad sitting me down and teaching me anything or giving me lectures or advice or anything like that. His teaching always came as a comment hear and a comment there. Hundreds of little comments like that gradually shaped me over the years and I became who I am. While I have been told that my dad had anger management issues as a young man, I have never seen even a hint of that. He has never yelled at me or anyone else. If I did something wrong he just went quiet and left me to my own thoughts. He would then tell me the consequences of my poor choices. It was usually phyical labor.

I worked hundreds of hours by my dads side. By the time I was in my teenage years he was a carpenter and I was his gopher. In case you don’t know what that means, I was the one who would “go for” this or “go for” that. Working beside me dad is when I would learn. I learned how to work hard, I learned how to finish a job, I learned how to do quality work (sort of) and as we worked beside each, other he taught me the gospel and what it means to be a man.

I miss my dad but I often feel that he is close to me. I am convinced that he is my gaurdian angel and has protected me from many dangers, both physical and spiritual. I am also convince that he is not only my gaurdian angle but the gaurdian angel for my entire family. What a blessing it is to be my dads son.