Time Spent with Daddy

On my first Father's Day, I was three days old. I gave my Daddy an Oregon belt buckle and Mommy gave him the belt to match. I've given him many gifts over the years, many of them homemade. Now days, the gift we enjoy sharing the most is just talking and spending time together. I am a self-proclaimed "Daddy's Girl," and I have many memories of doing things him. In honor of Father's Day, I'd like to share a few.

When I was little, my Daddy was really busy working on his doctorate. When he wasn't at the seminary for class, he was upstairs in his study. He had a box of fun toys that were not allowed to leave the room. At bedtime, I would climb the stairs to say good night. If he wasn't too busy, Daddy would play with some of the toys with me: a helicopter that could fly about the room, a really long stuffed snake, a wind-up hopping chick. Sometimes he would show me "tricks" on the computer, like moles popping everywhere on the screen or spray painting the background. Since I didn't have much time with him, those little times were very special.

I remember accompanying Daddy to the hardware store and him explaining all the different screws, bolts, and nails in the various bins. He seemed to know about so many things and didn't seem to mind answering lots of questions. Mom vividly remembers a time when we were all in the store together. I was given a choice of going with Mommy to one department or with Daddy to another. I choose Mommy, but after Daddy had already disappeared, I changed my mind and started screaming, "I want my Daddy!"

When I was older, I remember getting to stay up late with him on Saturday nights to watch British television shows on PBS. While my brother was his primary fishing buddy, we did have some wonderful trips together. I didn't enjoy getting up early, but I did enjoy riding the ocean swells with breeze whipping my hair - just Dad, the sea, the sky, and me. We also hunted together, silently walking the hills in the wet, autumn dawn. It was more about being with my Dad, then actually finding a deer. We enjoyed just about anything we did together.

My Dad and I both are bookworms and night owls, so we have enjoyed many midnight reading times and discussions together. I was going to read C.S. Lewis's Narnia series to myself, but he wanted to read it to me, so I let him do so. Whenever, he didn't want to read of an evening, I would threaten to read ahead. I've read entire books over his shoulder, just starting out of curiosity and then continuing because it was a good book. We've raced each other to the finish of other books, reading the same copy or sometimes checking a second one out of the library. We've reread books together (either the second time for him, me, or both). Right before college, I was the one who started the Harry Potter series, and told him that they were really good books but were going to get dark. He picked them up and read them all right away. We read the remaining books of the series together during my summer vacations. We went to a book party at the local library to pick up our copies of the final book during the summer between my second and third years of medical school when Eris was a few weeks old. I read that book during all those midnight and mid-day feeding sessions, allowing me to keep up with Dad despite my tiredness.

I am so thankful for my Daddy and all the wonderful times we've spent together. God willing, we will have many more. He is someone I can have a good time with no matter what we're doing, someone I can be real and honest with, someone who prays for me and loves me, and just wants to be with me. I love you, Daddy!

"Time spent together is never wasted"