26 {point two} Ways

1. When I turned 16, he taught me how to check my oil.

2. When I got my first apartment, he bought me a red, metal toolbox filled with the little things I would need.

3. When I told him a man in the Food Lion parking lot pointed out that I had a flat tire and rather than changing it for me, the man stood back and told me HOW to change it, he said “Good for him.”

4. One summer day after returning to college I declined lunch with him because I wanted to tend to a relationship that wasn’t going so great; he simply said “Try not to lose a friend.”

5. When I decided to play soccer in High School (never having played before), he sat in the stands for all the home games no matter how terrible I was.

6. When I asked for an electric screwdriver for Christmas one year, you bet your socks it was under the tree.

7. When I came home drunk for the first time, he put me to bed and told me to keep one foot on the floor.

8. When I got my first set of stitches, you better believe he was right there next to me in the ER…teasing me right along with Dr. Steinbeck.

9. When I got my first raise at my first real job, he told me to take the difference in salary and save it.

10. When I learned he didn’t have a big bucket list, I breathed a sigh of relief. There is nothing wrong with me after all. You can be perfectly content with your life.

11. When I hear people describe him as practical, dependable, or reserved, I realize it’s completely okay for me to embrace those aspects of who I am.

12. When Matt and I are discussing something religious based and we get to a question we can’t solve, he is the first person we think of to ask.

13. When he checked my math homework, he never told me exactly where my mistake was only the row it was in.

14. When we were younger, as in mucho younger, he would have to get all three of us girls ready for Church once a month by himself. I can still remember the way he would dip the comb in water prior to combing our hair. The tears we cried were an added bonus.

15. When I was about 9 years old, I was a huge, HUGE Duke fan. For my birthday he wrapped two Duke Basketball tickets up in a box of Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop tarts; two of my favorite things back then.

16. When it was time for me to go to church summer camp or on church mission trips, he was always the one to drive me and pick me up regardless of how far he had to travel or how late we were getting back. He never forced me to go, but he silently supported me in every way.

17. When I got married and I picked Jessica Simpson’s “You Don’t Have To Let Go” for our Father Daughter dance, he danced with me anyway.

18. When he found out he had cancer and again when he found out it was Stage IV, never once have I heard him complain about the hand he has been dealt.

19. When I think back at the gifts he has given me, quite often those gifts have been the ones I never knew I wanted. Whether it a new bible, devotional books, books on our ancestry, tools, or my personal favorite that was actually meant for the kids- a bunny that has his voice, along with my mom’s, recorded on it. It’s the gift I never knew I needed and one day will cherish.

20. When I think about my faith, he is the reason behind it.

21. When I get sad about his cancer and the prognosis, the place I want to go to the most in the whole entire world is the church I grew up in.

22. When I think about Sunday morning breakfast, pancakes always come to mind. Without fail, he would wake early every Sunday to make pancakes for us.

23. When I was 12 we were in a car accident. The only time I've ever seen him splurge on something was when we got our settlement check; he bought himself a riding lawn mower.

24. When I wear my kilt in the family tartan, it makes me happy.

25. When I think of the person I want to be most like, it's him.

26. When I think about how much better my life has been because of him, it makes my heart happy.

These are just a few of the ways I'm grateful to have the chance to run as a charity slot for the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) in the Marine Corps Marathon on October 27th in honor of my Dad.