20 Things To Love About My Father

1. He loves me no matter what.

2. He once listened to me agonize over my love for one of the New Kids on the Block for over an hour in the car. (I was 11 or 12 and sadly I cannot remember which one I was so much in love with)-- and he never laughed at me once. He listened patiently the whole time while I explained that this person (whoever he was) and I were soul mates but I just knew we'd never meet and that our love would never be.

3. He is one of the wisest people I know.

4. He always made me feel like my opinions and thoughts were important. (If you've ever wished I would shut up about my opinions....blame him)

5. He put my mom to sleep on their first date....and STILL managed to get a second date.

6. He bought a wet suit off of Ebay and is still wearing it 4 years later. And that wet suit gave birth to "Cool Pool Man".....who shall live on in the minds of his grandkids for years to come.

7. He is the most generous person I know.

8. He has an addiction to cottage cheese.

9. He drove a light blue Chevy Malibu that was longer than most boats for most of my childhood.

10. He works unbelievably hard to make a difference in the lives of nearly everyone he meets.

11. Even if he doesn't really watch TV, I suspect that he passed on to me my predilection for Sci-Fi.

12. He may not always get why I'm doing what I'm doing-- but he always supports me anyway.

13. He has never asked me why I'm not married (though he has tried to play matchmaker a time or two which is always disturbing)

14. The family now has a legend about the year that dad quit competing with our neighbor over hanging up Christmas lights. Instead he just hung up some chicken wire and used Christmas lights to make a sign that said "DITTO" with an arrow pointing next door. I still can't believe we didn't take a picture.

15. He gives me free medical advice (and tests)......and even puts up with me when I ignore it.

16. I've never seen anyone give more unconditional love and respect and care for a parent than him.

17. The look on his face when he gets together with his brother. I think of it has his "little brother" look because I only see it when Uncle Mike is around.

18. When I first confessed to my parents that I had a blog, his response was "I knew it! I knew you had one of those things!"

19. When someone called the house a few weeks ago at 2am with a wrong number and then asked him to look up the right number for whoever they were calling-- he actually got out the phone book and tried to find it. Seriously. Who does that?

20. He was and is the best dad ever!

Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you!