Happy Father’s Day to My Favorite Dad!

Wishing my Dad a Happy Father’s Day in Heaven! Not a day goes by that I don’t think of all the things he did for me over the years!

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there!

This little canvas tote reminds me of my Dad so much!  He could fix anything!  He could build things too !  I am not sure he really liked to build things because he was always saying “I am not a carpenter!”  But if I asked him to build something, he always would!

He actually made two of these conservatories for me out of old windows.  He made them for me to use when I had my flower shop .  I used to do a show every winter called Herb Day.  I wanted to take this with me for my display but it was too big for me to get thru the doorway by myself!

The Conservatory My Dad Built

My dad had the most amazing old work bench in his workshop. I wish I would have had room for it in the Florida house.  It had the neatest legs and a notch cut out of it to make room for his vise.  The picture below reminds me of it.

When we were cleaning out the workshop, we found so many boxes of nails and screws!  And I swear he always used a 10 penny nail to hang a picture!  There were so many large nails in the walls in both the farmhouse and the modular house!

He loved his mechanical pencils too!  I think I found over 20 of them in one drawer!

A few things I found

Part of the reason it took me so long to complete the downsizing process was that I had to go through a lot of family papers.  I found these things in a file folder.  I remember my Dad taking the real estate exam but I don’t remember him actually having business cards or actively pursuing real estate as a career.  I guess I was probably too wrapped up in myself!

I also found a letter he wrote to one of his older sisters when he was in the Navy.  I found it 74 years after he had written it!

I actually didn’t “find” this picture, it was taped inside one of the kitchen cabinets.  That is my Dad peeking out from behind the tractor wheel.  His brother, Lloyd is leaning against the tractor.  Lloyd is the brother that had the real estate business.  I originally thought it was my grandpa leaning against the tractor but after some research, I figured out it was actually my uncle!

One of my good friends from Illinois sent me this card last fall. Inside was the little pencil, a campaign gift my Dad handed out when he ran for Road Commissioner in the early 80’s. My friend found it in one of her drawers! It brought a smile to my face when I received it.

Memories

One of my first memories of my Dad is going fishing with him at a lake in Arkansas.  I was probably 4 or 5 years old.  Some of the fish we caught were too small to keep and he had to throw them back in.  For some reason, I was scared he was going to throw me in, too! But of course, he didn’t!

I don’t actually remember this, but family legend says that after visiting Santa when I was 2 or 3 years old, I informed my Mom that “Santa has green eyes like my Daddy”!

Santa Has Green Eyes Like My Daddy

There is great story about the building Santa was in.  It is outlined in this blog post:

and a little more about it here:

Another great memory was our trip on the Honor Flight. I was able to escort my Dad on a day long trip to Washington DC where he and other WW2 Veterans were treated to a very special day.  You can read more about it here:

The Honor Flight organization is an amazing group!

How ‘Bout Them Cubs!

My Dad took me to several Cubs games when I was growing up.  I returned the favor when I was grown up by taking him on a bus trip to a game when I worked at one of the banks in Champaign, Il. Don’t you love my “mom” jeans and the shoulder pads?

In honor of our love of baseball, here is an Americana Baseball inspired centerpiece!  The instructions on making it can be found here:

My parents had me when they were older.  I was fortunate to have my Dad in my life until he was 91 3/4.  I miss him every day!

Happy Father’s Day!