Blooming Sunday

Janet, my sister, sent me this close up of the flowers I sent earlier in the week for her birthday.  Stunning colors and textures that were just too lovely not to share.  So, today is Father's Day and each yea when it comes around there are mixed feelings.  It will be 15 years next month that Dad died and this day suddenly took on a different feeling.  Not so much one of sadness, but rather one of reflection.  Looking back on all the adventures we had and how Dad was always there for each of us kids in a different way. 

Whether it was working the annual carnival at Sherm's Thunderbird or putting up the outdoor Christmas decorations at 697 Indiana, I still see his cheery face.  He took his sports viewing a little too seriously, and yet whenever I watch a sporting event I think of him sitting there in his chair - sometimes yelling at the TV...it always made me laugh.  The golf tournaments and the smelt feasts we shared at Grandma's house.  One of my favorite memories that I still have is the year I put a lump of coal in his stocking and he just could not stop laughing.  Somewhere I know I still have a photo of that moment.  It was the year that he and Mom opened their house to Anne, my friend from France.

The mornings he would come out when it began to rain and I was delivering papers, to being at the head of the table for all the major holidays.  The trips to Brookings during the summer to getaway or venturing up to the cabin for a weekend.  There are numerous times when I pause and look back.  Funny at how the challenging times fade and yet the joyous times seem to shine brighter.  Yup, I still miss him.