My Wonderful Deedee

When I was a baby, I would wake up before the sun rose every morning. When I was old enough to walk, I would go to my parents' bedroom, stare at my dad, and wait for him to wake up. I was always amazed that within a few moments his eyes would pop open and he would get up with me. I would sit with him in the bathroom while he brushed his teeth, shaved, and maybe put his contacts in, then we would go eat breakfast and watch cartoons. I never remember feeling like his getting up that early with me wasn't exactly what he already wanted to do. In retrospect, I understand that no one wants to get up at 4 am, but sometimes, you do anyway.

My daddy can be a quiet man, and he can also laugh as loudly as anyone I've ever known. He's brilliant (even though he'll never admit that he is, and if you tell him he is to his face, he'll shake his head at you) and he's humble. And for my whole life, up until the time that I met my husband, I compared every boy I met to him and they all fell short.

When I was five I wrote my first 'book.' It was called The Golden Pony. I think it was probably 4x5 inches big, and maybe 5 or 6 pages long. My dad helped me bind it together so that I could hold and read my book like a real book. Now, over twenty years later, I'm still writing books, and he's still helping me bind them together, but in new ways. He reads the stories I write, and shares them with his coworkers and friends. He sends me writing opportunities when he finds them. He pushes me to keep following my passion, and he follows it with me.

My wonderful daddy has always had my best interests at heart, even when I didn't realize it. I don't ever remember a time when he didn't offer his love to me unconditionally. Even if I'd done something to really make him mad, I never felt like he didn't love me.

Daddy (along with my momma) taught me how to love. He showed me that it was OK to feel sad, and it was OK to feel happy. He showed me that we should choose to love, that our main goal in this life should be to love. He taught me how to have empathy towards people, and toward animals. I learned from him that if you can take care of a person, or an animal, you should. He taught my heart how to reach out and open up, even when it's scary.

Dee and Zee

When I was in high school, and went through a break up, daddy didn't let me sit and stew in it. He took me on a date to the movies, and pulled me out of the funk that I was going to let myself sink into. When I was in college and went through a break up, he sat with me and let me cry, and then verbally reaffirmed all the positive things in my life that I was going to let myself forget. Whenever I've had friends 'dump' me, or I've gotten into arguments, my dad has always been a voice of reason, helping me see what was, and what wasn't, my fault. And whenever I finally started dating a really good guy, even when things were rough, dad said, "Don't give up on him, yet. He's a good one, Zee." Even when it was hard, and I wanted him to just sympathize with me, he pushed me to do what he thought was right...and with dad, he's right almost every single time.

I'm so thankful that my dad is the way he is so that I had the best possible person to model what a husband and father should be. I'm more and more thankful for my daddy every day, and though this blog doesn't even begin to express how much I love him, it's a start.

Happy Father's Day, Dee!

I love you more than words can say!!