It's Already Been a Year.

January 29, 2011

It's hard to decide what to say on a day like this; the first year anniversary since dad passed away. I think about all the years and the many things we did as a family and the many things he and I did with work during those years.

I remember when I was about 5 or 6 years old and Wayne and I got in a fight in the front yard. It seems like there was a family gathering and for whatever reason, we had a strong disagreement. ( I told myself right there and then to make sure I grew up to be bigger than my older brother so he wouldn't try that again.) Anyway, Dad must have seen it from the front picture window because he came out the front door real fast and grabbed Wayne with one hand and threw him about five feet across the grass, yelling at us to quit fighting. I think I was so in awe at my dads strength that I forgot what we were fighting about. I thought, "He did that with just one hand!" (Plus, the fact that it was Wayne getting thrown and not me) What a strong guy. I'm sure that's when I decided I wanted to grow up to be as BIG as my dad.

I remember being in Tacoma, Washington at a truck stop on the day the United States landed on the moon and the astronauts did their first moon walk. I had just turned 17 years old the month before, but I knew it was a really important world changing event and I was glad I got to be with my Dad on that day. Just the two of us.

There are tons of memories I have of my dad and I wish I could list more, but there will be other times for that. One special last memory I have is of the day he passed away. I was in sitting next to him that morning and he hadn't really been saying that much most of the morning, but he opened his eyes and saw me sitting there and just said, out of the blue, "I just feel like I'm out of gas." I couldn't even respond, I just sat there and nodded. And cried.

I really miss him some days, but I'm glad our Heavenly Father didn't make him suffer too much before he called him back home.

Mel