Dad.

I’m extremely blessed to have had the relationship with my dad that I did. He wasn’t just my father, he was one of my very best friends. I can recall countless times being out to lunch with friends and getting my daily text messages from him. One time my friend asked what he was texting me about and I said “oh, just asking what I’m doing and where we’re eating.” She thought it was hilarious but to me it was my norm. I talked to my dad every single day about anything and everything. And he rarely ever missed a day texting me around 3:30pm, usually when I’m in the school pick up line, asking what I’m making for supper. More times than I can count I would get a photo later that evening of his dinner plate and he would have made exactly what I had told him I was making. “You flung a craving on me,” he’d say. 

My very first job was in college during the summer and winter breaks, and it was down at the drugstore with him. I was supposed to arrive at 9am each morning but would come bouncing in around 10 instead. “The princess has arrived,” the girls at the pharmacy would joke to my dad. He’d just chuckle and tell me I needed to wake up earlier tomorrow. (We both knew that probably wasn’t happening.) When mom and I would want to go shopping she’d ask him if I could have the day off. He could never say no to her, plus he’d rather me have been with her so he didn’t have to worry about her being in Tulsa alone. I had lots of “days off”.  At the time I wished I didn’t have to have a job, but I’ve thanked God so many times this week for giving me those special days with my dad. I cherish them incredibly. We laughed and joked all day every day and I’d always try to sneak the thermostat up because he froze me out. He always knew if I bumped it up by even one degree and made me go turn it back down. I never knew how he could tell by one single degree, but I guess when you know a place inside outside and upside down like he did his pharmacy, he just knew. 

He was the most easy going guy in the entire world until the day Darin asked him if he could marry me. He grilled him and pretty much demanded answers about Darin’s future plans and how he intended to provide for me. Mom and I (and Darin) were genuinely shocked as we just assumed he’d smile and say “of course!”, since he loved Darin so much and they already had such a close relationship, but Dad surprised us. In fact, Dad never gave him a definitive answer so Darin had to come back the next night and ask him again! Mom was present that time so things went a whole lot smoother. 

I can’t even begin to scratch the surface of my parents relationship. Best friends since the 7th grade and together since the 11th. I can honestly and genuinely say, that after 45 years of marriage and me being there for almost 39 of them, I saw them have one fight. ONE. Of course it had to be on Easter when I was like 7, and since I never saw even so much as a disagreement among the two, I was convinced they were getting a divorce. Being in my own marriage now for 17 years now I have to laugh and applaud my parents tremendously for keeping disputes private and giving me such a beautiful, as-close-to-perfect-as-you-can-get picture of a covenant relationship. The best gift they ever gave my brother and I was loving each other as selflessly and faithfully as they did. 

I’ll never forget when he visited me in the hospital after I delivered his first grandchild. He brought me a special box of chocolates and I remember thinking how sweet that was. I knew that even while he was so eager and excited to meet his new grandbaby, he stopped and thought of me, *his* baby girl first and that was his way of showing me that. No one was more proud of his grandkids than my dad, their Papapa. Oh how thankful I am that Levi had 13 wonderful years with him and Ezra, 10. They have solid, core memories with their Papapa that will carry them through their lives. Truly the best of friends. What a blessing. 

I have countless stories and experiences with my dad, just truly enjoying one another’s company. These are but a glimpse into the thousands; I just wanted to share a peek of who he was to me. He and I are a lot alike in many ways so we genuinely understood each other. He was and always will be one of my very favorite people, and he made sure I knew he felt the same about me. Being in his presence was the most peaceful, safe, secure feeling in the world. I’ll miss him more than anything. I already do.