This upcoming Sunday is Father’s Day. This is a day where we get to celebrate the men in our lives that have aways been there for us and what an important thing that is. Parenthood is never easy but, it is a worthwhile job. For me, it is a great reminder of a very special person in my life. In this blog post, I figured that I would talk about my most beloved traits of my dad Rick Gray.
The first thing that I love about my dad is that he has a great sense of humor. I never know when or how he is going to do or say something funny. One time, a news reporter approached and asked him what his new year’s resolution was going to be. Dad jokingly responded that he was going to have three percent body fat so that he could be Mr. Huntsville. Dad made it in the newspaper anyway. On mine and Hannah’s twelfth birthday party, we painted his nails hot pink and put sparkles on his head. The next day his buddies at church were picking on him for having painted pink nails. In response, dad told them that real men wore pink, so he was just showing his masculinity. Dad handled it like a champ.
The second thing that I love about my dad is that he is very competitive. Dad has his black belt in karate, and he also played football in high school. When Hannah and I were growing up, dad was always teaching us karate moves that he learned over the years Dad was always playing basketball and football outside with us as well. Whenever Hannah and I were playing sports, we knew that mom and dad were cheering us on from the sidelines. When an Alabama football game is on, you can bet that we are watching it. This is something that dad and I have in common.
The third thing that I love about Rick Gray is that he is very affectionate. I always look forward to his daily hugs. These hugs always remind me of how much my dad loves me. Whenever Hannah and I are on stage, we can always count on hearing dad yell, “That’s my baby!”. That always cracks us up. Sometimes however, dad does smaller things that show us his love. For example, he might get gas in our car for us if he sees that we need it. He might also do a chore that we were going to get to later because he knows that we are tired.
When Hannah and I were younger, dad would take us to the movie rental store so that we could pick out a movie to watch that night. Despite his hardest efforts of trying to move us away from the Barbie aisle, he ended up caving in instead. Hannah and I were very convincing kids We would also play Barbie dolls and tea parties together and that was always fun. Dad would also take to the park so that we could feed the ducks. After basketball and cheerleading practice, dad would aways go get ice-cream. It was our traditions with dad that make me appreciate him even more.
The last thing that I love about my dad is that is has always been a fighter. Almost twenty years ago, my dad was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer. At one point, the doctors were telling him that three months would be a long time for him to live. Dad would always tell people that he wanted to at least see Hannah and I graduate from high school. Not only did he get to see that, but he also got to see us graduate from college, participate in a pageant, and he also got to see Hannah start her nursing career. We are so glad that did. It didn’t matter if he had days. weeks, months. or years, Dad always fought to survive because he wanted to fight to see his gilts grow up. His doctor always tells him that dad is a walking talking miracle. We just so happen to agree with him.
If you have a great a dad like Hannah and I have, then consider yourself blessed. I wouldn’t be the person that I am without my parents. Thank you, dad, for everything that you have done for us. I love you and happy Father’s Day.
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