Father Knows Best

I love my Dad and I believe it is true that "father knows best". There have been many times in my life when his knowledge taught me a valuable life lesson.

Of course he taught me the obvious things like how to walk, how to ride a bike, how to swim, how to drive a car (he was amazingly patient) but there were other things that really made an impact on my life.

As a teenager, he used to say "I will trust you forever, but once you break that trust, I will never trust you again". I knew he meant it. I knew I wanted my Dad to always trust me and that helped me to make better choices.

I learned to trust him too. During my teen years, I went to "THE WHO" concert with Trisha and Mark Ormbsy. Before leaving for the concert my Dad said "just remember, you can't get somethin for nothin". Like a typical teenager, those words went in one ear and out the other. During the concert, a guy came up to us selling t-shirts for 1/3 of the price the other vendors were selling t-shirts. We got excited and jumped on the opportunity to buy cheap t-shirts. He handed us the shirts in a bundle and we handed him the money. When he was long gone, we opened up our shirts to find that they were all a size 2!... only a toddler could wear them (how many toddlers wear The WHO t-shirts?).  My Dad's last words, "you can't get somethin for nothin" came flooding back. Oops and wow. I definitely learned to trust him and to listen more closely to his wise advice.

However, I think anyone could tell you my Dad's number one quote is, "life is choices". He grew up without a father and his childhood was far from ideal. He dreamed his future family would be different and he made choices along the way that made that dream possible. This was not something anyone told him, it came from within.Learning his history taught me that life does not shell out the perfect scenario, but through our own choices, we can make it better, we can be happy, and we can live a good life.

So thank you Dad for the choices you made in your life. Thank you for knowing what you wanted your family to be and for making that happen. Because of your choices, I got to live the ideal childhood you never had. I am grateful every single day for this blessing. Thank you for breaking the cycle and starting new. You have created a new legacy that is unmatched.

Thank you for continuing to take those small moments and teach us something. My children adore you for these moments you spend with them. They believe you are the greatest Grandad in the world, and they are right.

Someone once asked me, what was the one thing your family taught you. Easy. "Family First".

Thank you Dad for teaching me such a valuable lesson. Family first. The end.

Without a doubt, father knows best.