Remembering my father

        Today is my father's birthday (he would have been 61).  He was born on April 8, 1950.  He passed away 11 years ago from lung cancer.  There is not a single day that goes by that I don't think about him or remember something he taught me.  He was a wonderful father, caring husband, and terrific friend.  Now that I have two children, a lot of my actions and ways that I respond to situations remind me of my father.        When I am with my two daughters I see myself acting like my dad.  I love to play outside with Addyson and Carly.  We like to jump on the trampoline and kick the soccer ball up and down the driveway.  My brother, dad and I would wrestle in the back yard and shoot hoops in the driveway.  I have also acquired my dad's talent of drawing.  My dad could draw anything from medieval warriors to snoopy.  Last summer Addyson wanted to draw with her chalk on the driveway.  That is where I realized I could draw.  It started with elephants to Elmo and by the end of the summer I could draw a giraffe and most of the sesame street characters.  Now we have moved inside for the winter and we draw with markers on a floor pad.  I can now draw the "Florida Gator," "Cat and the Hat", and other Dr. Suess characters from his books.  I always thought my father had an incredible talent drawing his pictures.
         I was lucky to have a father like mine and hope I am half as good as my father was with Tim and I.  I can't wait to see my daughters grow up.  I just wish my father could have seen Addyson and Carlean and had the chance to meet my amazing wife.  Dad I miss you and love you!

Here are two great pictures of me with Carly and then both of my girls.

Here is a picture of Addy and I drawing together and Carly is doing some crunches while she watches.

"At our house
we play out back.
We play a game
called Ring the Gack."
Dr. Suess







Next two pictures you can see that Addy likes to help me color in the characters.

"From there to here,
from here to there,
funny things
are everywhere."

The cat in the hat














Addyson likes to tell me what to draw.

"Look what we found
in the park
in the dark
We will take him home
We will call him Clark."

"He will live at our house.
He will grow and grow.
Will our mother like this?
We don't know."







Addyson hard at work drawing a picture.

"I like to box.
How I like to box!
So, every day,
I box a Gox."












This is what Addy looks like when we are finished drawing with markers.

Here are a bunch of characters from Dr.Suess's book
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

    Had to put this beautiful picture of the sweetest little girls in the whole-wide world on the blog.

 





I hope you enjoyed the pictures and remember a great man in my father.  He will always be missed and loved by everyone that knew him. 
~Jeff