Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is Dad's 71st birthday!

I can think of so many "Dadisms" - his little sayings and the way he said them -but the thing that comes to mind is his great love for his family. An example is when Rod broke his femur when he was about 11. Because of Rod's hemophilia, the doctors could not operate to put a pin in the bone (they may have not even done that back then), so he spent about 6 weeks in the hospital with his leg in traction until the bone could begin mending (then another 6-8 weeks in a body cast). Dad would come home from work every night, hurriedly shower and eat dinner, then we'd be off to the hospital. EVERY.NIGHT. No matter how hard he worked that day, how tired he was, he wasn't going to let his little boy spend the evening in the hospital by himself.

Dad has rescued each of his kids and granddaughters when we've had car trouble, ran out of gas, or locked our keys in the car. He was a truck driver for many years, so if you need directions to anywhere in California, ask Dad! You will not get lost IF you follow his directions. The day of Kim's wedding, we were all there except the twins. They called Kim, not sure where they were. The phone went to Dad. After a few moments of listening (another thing he does well - he listens), he told them exactly how to get to us.

For my entire childhood, we always had donuts on Saturday morning. It was one of our traditions. Dad would go to Eddy's Pastries in Fresno. Being kids (and picky!) all four of us had our favorites and Dad would make sure we each got our desired donut(s). As kids we were always up before he went to get them, but as teenagers he'd come wake us up to get our order. Our teenage response to "Do you want a donut this morning?" was usually, "No, I want more sleep!" But when we would finally drag ourselves out of bed, our usual orders would be there!

Dad, thank you for your love through the years! I love you SO much and I'll always be your Kid. Hope this is your best birthday ever!!

If you've been keeping track, my entire family has now celebrated their birthdays for 2009. We start with Mom, Rick, and Ryan in January. Rod, Krysten, and Lauren in March. Kim and me in April. And finally, Dad in May! Les' family is much more scattered!