So, I did this earlier with my great-grandmother’s picture…and I thought it was time again.  Chose THIS GUY…since it was just his birthday and I had this awesome picture of him!

That man right there is my Daddy.  He’s a great husband to my Mom, a wonderful Daddy to us girls, and a fabulous Papa to all the grandkids.  This pic was taken at his birthday party just a couple of weeks ago.  It makes me think of a few things:

• to get my Daddy to smile straight on in a pic – IMPOSSIBLE
• his laugh, which is contagious
• his love of San Felipe where he orders “pollo VANDITO” every time, no matter how many times I correct him (fundido)
• our Sonic dates when I was a teenager…every Friday night
• his height…six feet six inches..he has always been the “jolly green giant” to me
• him taking me to my first race in 1989…getting vomited on and leaving early!  LOL
• Darrell Waltrip
• that stache. (Victor Newman?  LOL  Weekend at Bernie’s??)
• I remember hanging out with him when my mom worked in retail and we would order pizza, those were some of my favorite nights!
• That time we sat on the floor together to watch Miami Vice and he ended up with knee surgery (womp womp wompppp)
• I also remember the gut-wrenching feeling of disappointing him (too many times)…and the hurt look in his eyes…thinking there was NO way he could feel as bad as I did (as a parent know, I know that’s not the case)
• If you know my Dad, you know he watches commercials.  All of them.  And he likes to talk about them.  And I secretly sometimes watch the funny ones so we can talk about them. 🙂
• Seeing him and Christian build things when Christian was about 3 or so….melting my heart.

I am so blessed with a Daddy.  Not a “father’ or a “dad”, but a DADDY.  He’s always been there for me and still is.  As a teen, when I thought I’d done that THING that would make him not love me anymore..it was when he surprised me and was more present than ever.  In my adult life now, I am so very thankful for my childhood relationship with him and even more for the grown up relationship too.  I truly believe I married someone that’s somewhat like him – and that makes me so very proud.