Open Hearted Works

I am incredibly lucky to have parents who I love tremendously and who have been very good to me–always.  Thank you Mom and Dad. I have tried to express my gratitude to you in person and with others, but have not really taken the time to write it down at length or share publically, so here it is.  Dad, since you are the eldest, I thought I would start here. I’m not sure how you managed to combine being strict and demanding with love and support, but you did and I appreciate it now (and have for a couple of decades), though there were times as a kid when I was quite frustrated.  That emotion gave me the strength to work through situations where I would have been lazy.  Here are some of my favorite moments in my life with you as my wonderful father:

• Even as you have gotten older and more quiet, you still laugh out loud regularly.
  

  Who's laughing more, Dad or his great-granddaughter?

• Doing the right thing is tantamount for you, even when others disagree.
• At your 90th birthday dinner, I received some of my favorite advice from you, “You’re about as happy as you make up your mind to be.”  You didn’t remember that the quote is from Abraham Lincoln, but just let it’s meaning guide your life.
• Going camping when we were kids–how you spent days beforehand making sure everything was organized and in good working order, every contingency covered.  I knew that we would have every thing we needed when our family was off the grid on the beach in Mexico.  Even now, decades later I love the thought that our family spent a week not needing running water or electricity or to be connected in any way, except when we went into town for a wonderful Mexican fiesta lunch.
• That you know how to fix anything–except my doll that got crushed.  I don’t remember it happening, but I love the story that mom tells of when I was about two and my doll was mangled beyond recognition.  I came to you in tears with her in my arms, saying “Fix it daddy.”  You couldn’t bring dolly back to life, but even at 2 years-old I knew.

I have been scanning some old photos so I can share them with my brother and it has been a wonderful trip down memory lane, plus some new trips into Dad’s past that I had not paid much attention to.  Enjoy! (click on each photo to see a larger version)