A tribute to my Dad.

My dad has been gone for 10 yrs. and we still miss him. He was a big man - in build and in heart. He was who he was (take it or leave it) - simple of speech - "happy go lucky" - (he'd seen sorrow in his day - lost all 3 of his brothers prematurely) - kept his emotions close to his chest - had a great sense of humor (which saw us 11 kids through many tough spots) - generous (found out later some of what he gave in secret) - a good steward (liked those good deals! and always took care of his cars) - loved to take trips with his family - we all knew we were loved. My father at his graduation.My parent's wedding picture -he got his black eye in an accident on the way to the wedding! When they went to get their marriage liscense - he pointed over to my mom - blaming her for the black eye! As "newly-weds". My 6th birthday ~My dad "dancing" at my wedding! And below - our wedding day - with the siblings that are younger than me. The only time I've seen my dad's face contort in tears, was when he said "goodbye" to me after our wedding. The 2 songs that you hear when you first get on this blog - I love because it makes me think of my dad. The first one "With Hope" by Steven Curtis Chapman is about a young person dying - and my dad wasn't young when he was tragically killed in an accident - but he wasn't old either, at 53 - in perfect health and never got to live long enough to raise all of his 11 kids.

"Finally Home" by Mercy Me speaks to me too - Dad's being in heaven - makes it more like "home" to me - and I look forward to speaking to him again in that place...

If you listen long enough here - you'll hear "Give My Love to Rose" by Johnny Cash - that was my dad's favorite song when my mom was pregnant with me - after having 4 boys, he was pretty sure I was a girl - and he already had "Rosalie" picked out for my name.

What inspired me to do this, is that I put some of these on facebook, and the response was overwhelming - comments from people far and wide about how they remembered and loved my dad. You can read these by going to my pictures on my facebook page.