My PA

I love my Dad. He lives in Florida now, which is quite far away from us. But I do get to visit occasionally, and he and Carol always make sure it's totally not a burden to do so....even with a growing number of monkeys we bring along with us. I wish I could see my Dad more often, but I'm so glad he's there, because he is happy there, and has a wonderful place to live, and our other wonderful side of the family is right by his side. So it's all good. Plus, we now have a fantastic vacation location.

If I could, I'd still spend every Sunday and Monday at his house watching the NFL, falling asleep to it's glorious sounds after a giant bowl of chili that he'd made. And we'd follow that up later in the evening with a big bowl of ice cream or lettuce with salt on it. What? Yep. My Dad has taught me well.

I could always sit on my Dad's lap, even when I was old and big. I'd plop down on his lap in his big maroon easy chair. When plopping down, you just had to be aware of the location of his obscenely large ring of keys from work. Ouch.

Dad taught me some great things. Like...how to paint in a neat way, how to strip, scrub, scrape, clean, and wax a floor to perfection. He taught me how to camp properly, picking up the small sticks for the fire and so you don't have to sleep on them, and how to leave a campsite cleaner than how you found it. He taught me how to fish, and what the inside of a fish looked like (I'm still scarred for life), and even how to see what the fish has been eating. UGH.

Dad once made a pencil holder with me. We used real glue and a real saw and real nails.

Dad got up in the middle of the night to kill spiders for me. He got up to kill them even through my teenage years when I got home around 1 or 2 am. He has a laugh I can still hear. I rolled my eyes a lot when he laughed about whatever I was upset about, but that's the biggest thing I remember about growing up with my Dad. My Dad was funny. He had the wooorst jokes sometimes, but occasionally, he'd hit it on the head. And then he'd take the new zinger and beat it to death for the rest of our lives. That's what I love about my Dad.

My Dad still teaches me things. Most recently, he taught me how to make the perfect cup of coffee after I told him my serious problem with making the coffee too strong or too weak. It was a very sad story. So, he took it upon himself to teach me the ways of the coffee world. What a beautiful life lesson. He taught my whole family about fire ants, and he's opened my eyes to the world of seafood. Because of him, I can say I've eaten alligator, shark, and other disgusting things, albeit...all good things if deep fat fried and dipped in sauce and washed down with bottled beer. He's taught me how to board airplanes with relative ease WITH children in tow. He's taught me what the bay looks like, and about new kinds of fish that we don't have here up in ol' Ioway.

He still watches what the weather is doing in Iowa, and we always have that to talk about on the phone. He can make a mean salsa, chili, stir fry, and many other delicacies that I treasure still today. Most recently, I attempted to replicate his homemade pickles, perfect for the pregnant mama. They were nearly perfect too.

Without my Dad, I would never have watched WWF wrestling, but for several years growing up, I had a favorite wrestler. I mowed the giant lawn for $20, and my Dad always insisted that I do things well. I appreciate learning that lesson.

I could write about my Dad for years, because I'm lucky enough to have had my Dad in my life for years. But I better save some good stuff for next year. But I just wanted to say...that I love my Dad, and I miss him every day. But the things he taught me and the lame jokes he tells come back to me vividly each day, and for that...I am very thankful.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, now Papa Keith, ruling it down in the great state of Florida. Love you Dad, and miss you!