My Dad - My Hero

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing I was going to do Wordless Wednesday, but with this photo, it cannot come without words. This photo is of me standing next to the best looking man on the face of the planet. I know, he’s never won any awards officially naming him as such, but it’s true. This is my Dad. This man created me 43 years ago. There is an entire lifetime of stories to go with him, and hopefully a lifetime more to come. When I was young, he looked SO MUCH JUST LIKE Burt Reynolds it was amazing. If only Burt Reynolds had the character this man does. My Dad lives in Texas in a little house on a little street that is home. He dabbles in competition Bar-B-Q, and can build anything on earth you might need with little more than a booger and a butt hair. He has a quaint little shop in his back yard filled with an amazing array of “stuff” that can make anything work, or create anything from scratch. I’ll take some “Southern” heat for this comment, but I don’t care. At 43, even still when I go home, I cannot wait to sit in my Dad’s lap and get “that HUG”… that hug that only a Dad can give. His laugh makes me full of joy, and his ability to walk taller and jump higher than any boy on the block still makes me proud today. Dammit, even though there was never an action hero that could live up to my Dad’s standards, age has caught up to him a bit. He has a “mild heart condition” (those are his words) that causes an occasional arrhythmia that is erratic. When this happens, and medication will not remedy the situation, he has to go in for a “jump start”. In layman’s terms, he gets the paddles and they basically stop his heart, and then start it again. In today’s hospitals, it’s an “outpatient” procedure, and he’s only there for a few hours. However, in the beginning, they told him…at any time, this might not work. It usually will, but one can only do this so many times. Well, over the past few years, he’s had it done a few mere times. Tomorrow, he must travel again about 100 miles to Lubbock, Texas and hook up again. I know it will all be OK again, but I do worry. I just wanted to put in writing that I consider myself one of the four luckiest people on this planet to have had this man create me. My Dad is the epitome of all that is good in Texas, and all a girl could ask for. He calls my husband (after almost 10 years of being his son-in-law, “Ole What’s His Name”. He called my Dad tonight, and even before a concerning day tomorrow, my Dad says, “Hey, you sound like “ole what’s his name”, what in the hell do you want?” They always laugh, and I’m happy my Father approves of my life choice in a man. Unfortunately, I’m not sure any man you marry can quite match up to Dad. Thanks Dad for all you are, and good luck tomorrow at the “shop”. Forgive me for putting your photo “up on the internet”. If too many women attack you in the shopping centers now, I’ll help you police them :)