Hitch-hiker

I always thought of myself as a brave person, but compared to my dad, I feel like a complete wimp:) As most of you know, my dad was such a people person! He could be walking down the street and it always seemed that every person we passed he would know. I will never forget impatiently waiting in the truck as a child as my mom and dad always seemed to be the last two people out of any building we went to; why? Because they enjoyed the company of others. This company mostly consisted of close family and friends, church members, fellow co-workers, sports fans, and coaches, but I will always remember the time when the company of another stepped outside of this comfort zone that I was familiar with. One characteristic that I truly admired about by dad was that he loved helping others, especially when he saw one standing by the side of the road, all alone. (Yes, my dad picked up hitch-hikers.) I was a young girl when this first happened, but I will never forget the courage and compassion I saw in his face when he told me the stories these men had shared with him. He loved learning of other people's lives and giving when he could, because we had been so fortunately blessed as a family. Give and you will receive, not necessarily here on this Earth, but in Heaven; this is what I learned through his actions, not his words, and to tell the truth, I believe that actions speak louder than words because I seemed to listen and understand this concept on a deeper lever (please remind me of this when I begin parenting :)). Thank you for showing me how to be a humble person and where to look for people who are always searching for a kind and giving heart.

-Brittany Janae

Go Long!!

My dad was an avid Colts fan, as most of you know, and loved taking the family to the games!! The atmosphere and the overall experience was/is absolutely unbelievable and we soon fell in love with the games as well. A few years later, my family had the opportunity to go onto the field after the game had been played and my dad was in 'high heaven'!!! One of my favorite characteristics of my dad was that he was soo full of life, and even saying that I don't feel that I describe it deeply enough! His laughter, his energy, his drive- most people just don't have what he had!! Still to this day, I can see him and I standing in the touch down area, placing our right foot on the line, and kneeling down to race. I can see his smile as I count us off, and hear his laughter as we run neck-to-neck down to the 50 yard line. I can feel his energy and enthusiasm rub off on me and give me this joy to live life!! And as I think back to that day, I feel that God was preparing me with wonderful memories, joy, and laughter to be my crutch for all of the times that he wouldn't be here. There is never a day that I do not see his smile and think, "Dad would be so happy with me right now." He fed me life then, and he still continues to feed me life today through the life he lived and the memories he engraved in my heart.

-Brittany

Golf Cart Accident

Sunday, February 28, 2010

This is an older memory as well, probably 9-10 years ago. My family had just purchased a brand new golf-cart and I couldn't wait to test the new wheels, so me, Briona, Baleigh, and our two cats set out for a lap around our subdivision. As I was driving I was also holding one of the baby kitties in my lap, and all of the sudden the cat jumped off of the golf cart! I quickly reached down to grab it, but as I did I swerved off the side of the road and hit one of our neighbor's mailboxes!! I jumped off of the golf cart and checked to make sure there wasn't any damage done to the golf cart because I knew I would get in trouble! There was a tiny little scratch that was barely noticeable, so I thought I just wouldn't say anything to mom or dad about the little incident. As I pulled into the driveway at home, my dad walked out and casually asked, "Did you hit something?" (Little did I know that he had been in the garage and heard the noise) I immediately said no and ran inside thinking I have covered my tracks:) A little later he came down to my room and said, "Britt, I was in the garage and heard the noise you made when you hit that mailbox, and you lied to me about it. So we are going to go buy them a new mailbox, put it up, and make an apology." I was so embarrassed to admit to the neighbor that I had hit their mailbox, but I made the apology and then dad and I went to work on setting the new mailbox up. After I got over my embarrassment, we actually had a pretty good time working on the new mailbox!!
Looking back, I am so glad that he took the time to show me what was right and the steps I needed to take in order to fix what I had done. He was such a role-model to me and still is to this very day!!
-Brittany

Starting Out

A brilliant young woman recently told me that it would be so neat to write down memories of my dad to someday share with my children, my neices and nephews, and other family members. This blog will serve as my personal journal as I journey through this process of writing down all of the memories I can remember (before I forget anything). Hopefully, on one awesome day, I will be able to hand this journal to my children and say, "Here, I made this especially for you so that you may read of this amazing man that I called my daddy, and that you will one day (finally) be able to meet in heaven." I am a strong believer in memories, traditions, and values, and I hope that you will be able to see why as you read through this journal!!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

One of my favorite memories of my dad took place during the process of our family building our first house in Terrace Court. I was in 4th grade, I think. Dad and I were at the house late that evening. He was working, painting, putting things together, and cleaning up messes left over from the crews that had been there that day. I don't exactly remember what I was doing, probably running around the house, doing whatever it is that 4th graders do.:) After he was finished, we always went around the house, turning off lights, locking doors, etc. It was getting late, so we went through the house doing the usual "shutdowns" and finished up in the garage, which is the door we always went out of. Dad turned out the garage light and was turning to lock the door before he shut it and I yelled, "Dad- Wait!! I still hear the radio. You forgot to turn it off." He turned around to look at me, smiled, and said, "It's okay, I want to leave it on (It was a Christian radio station). I want to keep the devil out of our house." That night as we climbed in the truck to go home, I remember thinking, "Wow- my dad is SO cool! How does he think of things like that?" That statement has always left an impression on my heart, and I know it will never leave me. For me to remember that memory so vividly from 11-12 years ago truly amazes me! This is one of the many reasons why I always looked up to him... More to come soon!! :)

-Brittany