This week my fmily and I will be celebrating my dad's birthday! Every year around this time, I think about how lucky we are to be celebrating yet another birthday with him! According to medical science, my dad should have been gone a long time ago because of his cancer. Thankfully, God had other plans for him! In honor of my dad's birthday, I will be sharing some of my favorite memories that I have of him from over the years.
Those who know my dad the best, know that he has a great sense of humour! Ever since my dad was a young kid, he was always pulling pranks on people. One of my favorite stories about his sense of humour is, one time my mom and dad were walking in the park and a newspaper reporter asked him what his new years resolution was going to be. My dad looks at them and says,"I want to lose 3% body fat so that I can be Mr. Huntsville!" He was not actually serious but the reporter believed him so they took his picture and quoted him in the Huntsville Times Newspaper! My dad definitely knows how to make us laugh!
When my sister Hannah and I were growing up, our dad would not play hide and seek with us unless we counted to ten in Japanese. Even if our friends were playing with us, we would have to teach them how to count in Japanese before he would play with us. Our friends thought he was so funny they had never played hide and seek like that before. We didn't know it at the time, but dad was teaching us how to be smart and wellrounded individuals. Looking back at that, I am so glad that he taught us that skill!
History has always been important to my dad. Ever since Hannah and I were kids, our parents took us to every president's house and historical place that they could! Dad believes that if we learn from the past, then we won't make a lot of the same mistakes now. We have been to Washington DC and we toured the white house and Arlington Cemetary. We also toured alll of the monuments there. We went yo Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia acouple of times where we would gave a picnic and watch the firework show on the front lawn of the Governnor's Palace during the fourth of July!. We even went to Gettysburg and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania a couple of summers ago where we toured the battlefield and the Liberty Bell. Mom and dad even took us to the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina one time and it snowed while we were there so of course, it felt so magical to me and Hannah!
Faith has always played a huge part in our family's lives. Hannah and I grew up going to church and being active in it. Both of our parents made sure that no matter what we were facing at the time, faith was our number one priority! We know for a fact, that God got us through many dark days and we were stronger for it! None of us would not be who we are today if it weren't for our faith in the Lord!
My dad hasn't had it easy however, he has always had something to fight for! Dad could have easily given up when he was so sick with cancer but, he did the opposite because he just wanted to watch his little girls grow up and watch them graduate from high school! Dad never gave up. Not only did he see Hannah and I graduate from high school, he also was there to see Hannah graduate from Nursing school and me competing in Miss Alabama. We coud always hear him screaming from the audience, "That's my baby" With pride in his eyes!
Happy birthday Dad! I hope this one is the best one yet! We love you so much and can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with you!
Here is Dad at Hannah's nursing graduation
Here we all are at the Grand Ole Opry
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