This coming Sunday is the day set aside each year to celebrate the man that means so much too so many of us-Dad.  Where would we be without our fathers?  We may not always appreciate the advice or lessons they attempt to teach us, or eagerly jump into the chores they give us.  Still, dads have a way of letting us know they care in everything they do.

My own father passed away a few years ago, but I feel blessed that I had the chance to know him, not only from the perspective of a child, but as an adult.  And what a difference a few years made in my opinion of him!  As I grew older and raised my own children, I began to appreciate him all the more, for all the hard work and sacrifices he made in raising me and my siblings.

Towards the last years of his life my dad was more likely to have, and take the time, to tell us some of the fascinating stories of his own childhood, then some seventy-plus years past.

My father was born and raised in rural Tennessee, and received more education about farming, animal husbandry, and carpentry work than he ever did in formal schooling.  He raised wild turkeys, which I learned were actually capable of flight, and which he had to chase out of trees to get them to their roost at night.  He learned to churn butter, and grind pork into sausage by hand, by actually helping to provide for a large family of parents and siblings.

He left farming behind, and moved into the city, when he and my mother started a family, so that his children could have advantages he lacked growing up.  Many of the skills he acquired working the land did not translate well to our little suburb, but he adapted, and till his last year still tended a garden in the backyard, and helped family and friends with home repairs.

My father was not always an easy man to know, or communicate with, but in his own way he always showed he cared.  You could see it in his smile, feel it in his hugs, and tell in the look of pride on his face whenever he watched his grandkids.

I miss my dad, but I know he’s watching over me, and my family.  I hope we make him proud.  When I watch my husband interact with our children today, I am reminded that behind his sometimes gruff manner, he really does have the best interests of our children at heart.  He reminds me of my own father just a little bit, but that’s okay.

Thanks for listening to me ramble on.  The main point I hope to make is that fathers are special, and often underappreciated, so take this time to acknowledge everything they do and mean to us.  Above all, to all my readers out there, Happy Father’s Day!

Amy