Skip to main content

Sunday Musings of the Spirit: 10 Things of Thankful: Father's Day Edition

I'm joining in on the second 10 Thankful Things blog hop, but because today is Father's Day, I've decided to write a Father's Day edition.



Ten Things of Thankful



I'm thankful:

1.  My dad makes me feel important.  He is a retired junior high school teacher.  I remember going to his classroom and being allowed to write "lessons" on the chalkboard for the students.  Because of me (or so I thought), his students learned concepts such as big and little.

Yes, I'm feeling pretty important here.


2.  My dad introduced me to great music.  Not only did we listen to records by Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie,  The Irish Rovers, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and the Kingston Trio (to name a few), but we often spent evenings singing as a family, with Dad accompanying on the guitar.

3.  My dad encouraged my love of reading.  Of course, getting rid of the family television when I was 10 helped, but even before that time, we were surrounded by books.  Dad is a voracious reader.

4.  My dad taught me that knowledge conquers fear.  Each year, he would come to my elementary school classroom with Richard, a boa constrictor, and teach the kids (and teacher) that snakes are not slimy.  Then brave children would be allowed to touch Richard. 

5.  My dad taught me by example to study things out and follow my dreams.  He wanted to build an energy-efficient house, so he decided on a passive-solar design, and we became hobbits in our earth-sheltered home. 

6.  My dad taught me the importance of education.  He always said, "The worst thing I ever did was marry your mother---before she finished her college degree."  We kids knew he loved Mom, so we heard the message loud and clear that we needed to finish college.  

Also, he understood that children can learn far more than what society generally thinks they can.  He taught me the Latin names for the various critters we had.  Dad relates that I exclaimed in distress the following when I was about 3 years old:  "The Gerrhontus multicarinata ate the Uta stansburiana!"  Ever the teacher, he recently told me via e-mail:  "The 'Gerrhontus' may be misspelled, they have changed the genus name to something else. In common nomenclature, the alligator lizard ate the side blotched lizard."

7.  My dad trusted me to make good decisions.  Even though I got married before I graduated from college, he didn't hold it against me--although I'm pretty sure he was relieved when I did receive my diploma.

8.  My dad taught me optimism.  I remember him saying that movies always have happy endings.  (We generally watched Disney movies, but not Old Yeller.)  I learned that while there might be twists and turns in the plot, everything worked out OK in the end.

9.  My dad allowed me to pursue hobbies with him.  We joined a photography club together.  I helped him program our first computer, by reading line upon line of code to him.  We ran a 5K together.

10.  My dad values family.  He opened his home to his mom when she needed care at the end of her life, and currently is having his home remodeled to accommodate the needs of his mother-in-law.  

Happy Father's Day, Dad.  


Thanks for Dad, and for John's dad, and John. Thanks for my brother, and brothers-in-law, and daddy of my granddaughter. Thanks for all good fathers everywhere.


You might find my posts on these blog hops:

Sew Darn Crafty Party,  Find a Friend Friday, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop, Show Your Stuff, The Wildly Original Link Party, Wow Us Wednesdays, Down Home Blog Hop, Tuesday Archive Link Up, Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River, Grandparents Say It Saturday
The Creative Home Acre Hop Best Blog Post Ever, Grand Social,
Crafty Garden Mama,
Let's Get Social Sundays
Freedom Fridays
Tuesdays with a Twist
Pattern Party 
All My Bloggy Friends
A Peek into My Paradise





Pin It

Comments

  1. Beautiful.....the men in lives are something special especially when they give us worth!!!!!Happy Father's Day to your family!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I was growing up, we watched Disney movies every Sunday night when Wonderful World of Disney came on. We had popcorn for supper, and my brother and I got to have a little juice glass-sized glass of Pepsi with it. Life was much simpler then!

    ReplyDelete
  3. very good List.

    Item 3! there are few things I can think of that has more longterm benefits for a person than (acquiring) a love of reading.

    Item5 earth-sheltered! damn, I always admired those (back in the 70s) never got one (or even got into one...this being New England, we *not* so into the innovation things...lol)

    very cool

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your Dad sounds awesome. Truly a blessing worth rejoicing for in (I should think a minimum of) Ten Things. It sounds as though you and he share a wonderful relationship.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a fun way to do the hop...honoring your dad. I love it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kristi with the awesome name,
    What a lovely tribute to your father! He sounds really cool and I love that you included that he taught you optimism. Such an important thing to have in life and one often forgotten about. Happy Father's day to your dad and all the great dads out there!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am so glad you joined up today. This is a fantastic post. It sounds like you father is a wise man. I wish my middle school kids could have him as a teacher. I imagine he was marvelous. #6 cracked me up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wonderful thoughts of your Dad and many memories. Happy Father's Day to him!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great post. I sure miss my Daddy but I do know he is up there watching over me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice post! Glad you came to the grand social.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your dad (and your childhood) sounds wonderful!! I always get kind of jealous when I read stories like this, because I didn't have a dad like that.
    My biological father I met twice, when I was 20 years old and my stepfather was not very fond of me, only of his own two children (my younger sister and brother)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Things of Thankful: Autumn Edition

It's autumn time, one of my favorite times of year.  I just couldn't leave this weekend as a one-post weekend.  

Ten Things of Thankful: Last Two Weeks

  Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, as viewed from an overlook I apologize for not commenting on your blog posts this past week; John and I took a vacation to Yellowstone National Park, leaving behind our computers and, to a large extent, cell phone service. We escaped the outside world and just spent time in nature. Though we have friends near Yellowstone (who we love to visit) we made this trip just about us, so please forgive us if we were nearby and didn't stop by. The crowds were minimal (though we did mask up whenever we passed someone on the trails) and we spent our days hiking, taking photos, and watching geysers erupt. Today, we are back home and back to work, and, in the case of my computer, back to old shenanigans like not letting me import my photos. (I was able to add the above photo by using blogger on my phone, but that isn't my preferred method.) I want to write about Yellowstone and have photos I want to share, but will leave that for another

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this