Let me tell you how technical I am when it comes to a blog post idea.
Tonight, I sent out a Facebook mass message and asked for blog ideas. Some that came back were:
- OCD – which I know nothing about.
- Disney Princesses – which I know a little about.
- South Beach Tow – I have seen clips on FB.
- People who don’t believe in Santa – which I will talk about this on a later date.
- Little Girls – which I am an expert on.
So finally, I asked them to pick a number between 1 and 600. The first number back was 9. Picked by my nephew, Brandon. I looked on Pinterest under “blog topics.” That’s where the 1 to 600 comes in. 600 brilliant blog post ideas. It just happens that 9 was this….
9. What is your biggest regret?
After much thought, it came down to one thing. It wasn’t having two kids with the biggest loser on the planet. It wasn’t not finishing HS, because I was pregnant. It wasn’t working two, some times three jobs to support us, it wasn’t moving away from Utah to marry the man of my dreams, it wasn’t even dying my hair blue and purple. My biggest regret was not being able to tell my Dad how much I love him. My Dad was a very hard worker who did whatever needed to be done to support his family. He was a very big “family man.” I think that his wife, and kids were his biggest joy. I think we lived simple. We didn’t have a huge house. We didn’t have fancy cars. We didn’t have a lot of “things.” But yet, we felt like we were millionaires. This is the sappy part…(sorry, Jos) I wonder everyday if I am doing the best in teaching my kids the same thing as he taught me.
Let’s back-up just a bit. When my Dad was 15 or 16 his Mother passed away of cancer. His Dad who was working over seas, had became an alcoholic. Dad had no choice but to move in with his uncle. (Uncle Doug, was an amazing man too.) To make a long story short, my Dad didn’t have the love of his own Mom, when I feel he needed it the most. Not only did he have a small family to take care of, he was also getting calls from the pubs, that his Dad was causing trouble, or he needed to be picked up. Not once, did I hear Dad complain about this. If you asked him, he would tell you. If you didn’t ask…no words were exchanged.
What a handsome fella. I remember many jobs he had to support his family. A few of them I can remember…
- Manager of Safeway and Dove’s grocery stores
- Owner of T.R. Merc
- Traveling sales man of earrings
- Realtor
- Mobile home sales
- B.J. Maps
- Cattle Farmer
Yep. He was a man of many, many trades! He also worked on cars, tractors, kitchen appliances, and was a star builder.
Here is a picture of all the family. I would say around 1984. Yes, we had the photographer come to our house. Yes, he was creepy with a big brown beard. Yes, that is his stand in the bottom right hand corner. Yes, that is an arcade game under the fireplace mantel. And finally, the extra girl was my BFF at the time. Her name was Farrah, or as my brothers would call us.. “Poltergeist two” when we were together. My Mom and Dad always had extra people hanging, eating, or staying with us. I don’t believe either one of them would say no. For this, I am happy! 🙂 Our family is much larger now. With seven in-laws, 26 grandkids, and seven great-grands, my Dads legacy continues on.
In October of 2006, I was lucky enough to go see my brother, Kelly, and his crew in New England. At the time I did this, I hadn’t been east of Missouri. I was so excited, not only to get to visit my brother, and to see new parts of the country, but to spend time with Mom and Dad. I can remember like it was yesterday, the hug I got from Dad at the Atlanta airport when we met up to fly the rest of the way together. It was a real, life, hug. One I know I will get to experience again…someday. If you have ever watched “Nim’s Island” at the end of the movie she reunites with her Dad. I cry at that part every time. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Ha…..anyhow, that was the last trip I would get to take with Dad. He passed away a month after this picture was taken.
In closing, I would like to Thank my Dad for everything he has taught me. If I could go back, knowing what I know now, I would owe him a great big, long, sappy apology for being the punk kid I was. I swear…I gave that man every grey hair he had. Grey hair is good….right? I would hug him and not let go. I would eat a whole pecan pie with him, and not feel guilty. I would hold his hand, and watch an entire football game. I would say those four magic words, that I didn’t say…..”I love you, Dad!”
Enough sap….sorry. With that said…..
