Tag Archives: Daddy

Use Trees!

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It’s been three years since my Daddy passed on. He has been missed. I think of him often and miss having a Daddy Daughter date once a month.

When he passed, and we were planning his funeral, we wanted to do something that had special meaning for the flowers. I had recently worked at a flower shop and knew how to design flowers, and could potentially do all the arrangements for his funeral.

As I was sitting at the kitchen table thinking about this, a thought came to my mind very clear, use trees! Yes! That was the answer. My daddy loved trees! It might have been him giving me the message from the other side.

My Daddy was a big fan or trees, all kinds. He bought many trees in his lifetime. I think Weeping Willow trees were his favorite. He would buy trees that reminded you of a Charlie Brown tree. Very crooked or an unusual angle on one side. He died traveling with family and one of their destinations on the trip was the Redwoods in California. He would often quote the poem by Joyce Kilmer called Trees.

I also love the- Advice from a Tree: Stand tall and proud, Go out on limb, Remember your roots, Drink plenty of water, Be content with your natural beauty, Enjoy the view.-Ilan Shamir

We decided we could buy trees for each of the children of my parents, and after the funeral we could plant them in our yards. We spent time looking and choosing the trees we felt would best serve the purpose. I have a beautiful flowering Pear tree that sits right outside my office window. I love it! When I look out the window at it I remember my Dad and his love of trees. It was a great idea, and I’m so grateful we did it.

An Amazing Day! An Amazing Man!

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dad's80thToday on this amazing day, my daddy turned 80 years old! Would you look at this man? He is the picture of health! He doesn’t look like a day older 69. We had a fun time surprising him with a party at the Family Search Library. Then we went to dinner tonight. I have spent the last few weeks putting together a “Warm Fuzzy” book for my dad. What is a “Warm Fuzzy” book you ask? Well, I contacted all the fam and asked them to write a nice birthday wish and thought to tell dad, grandpa how much they love him. Then I put them all together so he could read how we all love and admire him. I will be adding the pictures from today. Isn’t he a handsome gentleman?

Here is my “Warm Fuzzy” for my dad:

Dear Daddy,

How can I express the feelings of my heart? I will do my best.

I am amazed when I think of what a blessing a father like you is in a little girls life. I have always wanted to marry someone like you. In fact I remember asking you when I was little if I could marry you. Of course you said that Mom needed you, and I would find someone special just for me. And I did.

You have been the perfect example of a Christlike person. When I say Christlike, I don’t mean perfect, I mean that you are as close to being the very best person you can become, and you are always striving to emulate what Christ would do in life. As I have watched you go through difficult situations and handle them calmly. I know that you are making a conscious effort to think before you act. Your obedience to the commandments was my first lesson in doing what’s right, because it’s the right thing to do. Your love of the gospel and the scriptures has been so inspirational to me. I have a love of the scriptures and the gospel because of you and mama. Both you and Mom have taught all of us kids to work hard. For my whole life you have set a high standard for what a worthy priesthood holder looks and acts like. I knew that my husband would need to honor his priesthood just like you.

I want to do family history constantly! I have had to be patient and let the rest of my life take most of my time now, but you and Mom make it look so fun!!! Your creativity is inspiring. I love to show you the things I’ve created knowing it will make you proud. It means everything to me to know you are proud of me.

One thing that means more to me than you’ll ever know is our monthly date. I look forward to having you all to myself and talking about what is going on in our lives. You are always interested in what I am doing and how my family is doing, asking for specifics about the kids and Brett. It is fun to see you joke with the waitress and cashier.

I am so glad you have taken such good care of yourself and Mom. When I have seen a little pile of pills on the counter for Mom that make me happy knowing that you are making sure she gets what she needs. I tell all my friends that the reason why the two of you are so healthy is because 1-You both take a million vitamins and 2-Heavenly Father is blessing you both with wonderful health, because you bless others so much at the Family Search Library and the rest home.

One of your special gifts is loving others. Father in Heaven has blessed you with the ability to love, love, love! You emit love. It just drips off of you! I want to be a more loving person, because of the examples I see in you, and Mom. When I think of home I think of you and Mom, after all, you taught me what home looks like. “To be at home is to find yourself with those who put your heart at ease.” I am always striving to make the home I am the mama of like that.

Thank you for naming me Joy. I haven’t always appreciated it, but I know you were inspired to do it. I know that you were inspired to name me Joy, because I needed it. It has been a blessing to me.

I can’t imagine my life without you, and I know that I am truly blessed to have you as my daddy. I love you! Joy 

Yes, he is that amazing!!! I love him so and want to wish him a very Happy 80th Birthday!!!

 

The Valley or The Mountain!

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The view from the valley!

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I went out to dinner with my daddy tonight.

He is a great guy!

I love to be with him, he makes me smile. As we’re driving along I looked up at the mountain. It’s my favorite mountain, the one I’ve looked at almost everyday of my life. I can’t imagine living anywhere except here, where I can look at the mountain.

I say to my dad, “Look at that beautiful mountain.” He says, “Yup, that’s why we moved to the valley.  The people on the mountain swear they have the most beautiful view. Those who live in the valley swear they have the most beautiful view…”

I just sit there smiling, because I know he’s going to say something funny, because he always does. He smiles back and says,

“And those who swear the most are right!”

Funny. The truth is, both views are the most beautiful

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The view from the mountain!

ON PETS – by Daddy

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On Pets

My adult daughter called her mother the other day,
crying, to tell her that her family dog, Taz, had passed away. Later that day I was with my wife and she told me of the sad event. Taz had not been feeling well for several days and that night they had put him in his bed and the next morning they found him dead. We, too, had known Taz for some 12 years, since he was a puppy. As we talked about the event and how bad our daughter’s family felt about it, we, too, commenced to shed tears. Our family has always had pets and with only one or two exceptions they all died of old age. They have been, and are, important members of our family. They each have their own individual personalities, whether the pet be a cat or a dog. Dogs are always affectionate and cats are when they feel like it. They say a family owns a dog but a cat owns a family. I well remember my first dog, I brought a stray mongrel home when I was about eleven years old. I started feeding it scraps from our table and he stayed with me. He was about half grown at the time. It was during my fifth year in school and I remember that the war was still going on. Every once in a while a military convoy would be seen going through the streets of our city. I had a fascination with the Army jeep. I spent a great deal of time in class drawing pictures of jeeps and airplanes. Maybe at this point you can guess what I named my first and very own pet. You are right, his name became ‘Jeep’. Jeep slept on
my bed, ate my food (I don’t believe they even sold dogfood in 1945) and he went every where I went. When school was out Jeep would be waiting for me at the school house door. He would run alongside my bike as I rode all over the neighborhood. He provided a certain amount of humor for me and my friends. One time we were riding our bikes along a tree lined avenue in Spokane, Washington with jeep running along side. It so happened that two men were standing on the side walk talking and Jeep ran up on the sidewalk and stopped where the two men were and lifted his leg on one of the men. We talked and laughed about that for years. Wherever I was, there was Jeep, my constant companion. Jeep had one bad habit that I could never break him of, he loved to chase cars and sometimes bite at their tires if they were going slow enough. I mentally rationalized one time thinking that Jeep may have thought that cars coming toward us on the street may possibly be a threat to me. One day a car came along and true to form Jeep took out
after it, only this time, the thing that I was always afraid of
happened. Jeep was run over and killed. I remember running to the street and picking him up in my arms and with tears streaming down my face I carried him home. I was actually mad at him and I cursed him with every swear word that I could bring to mind. All that I could think of was that he did a stupid thing, now he was dead and he wouldn’t be with me any more. My sorrow could not have been more deep if the dead body in my arms had been my little brother. After all,they were both members of my family. I missed Jeep so much, I missed his licking my face, jumping up on me with muddy paws and being there for me 24-7, as they say today. I missed his being curled up in the bend of my knees as we slept through the night. We were pals, he loved me as only a dog can love and I loved him as only a boy could love. I don’t believe I feel much different about every pet that we have had as a family since that time. When our kids have brought home a new pet I have hesitated letting them keep them. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to start a new relationship with a new pet because I knew how much it hurt when they go away. I don’t believe that our children ever
understood my hesitancy, a hesitancy that was rooted in the loss of a little dog named Jeep.
-Emil