Happy Father's Day!

A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow. Unknown

Happy Father’s Day!

When I was a little girl I thought my parents were movie stars. Truly I did—my dad was a tall, strapping country boy who could have been John Wayne’s younger brother (although he said he looked like Clark Gable), and my mother, well, I thought my mother was Maureen O’Hara. They were the perfect match and I was not the only one who thought this. They were loved by our whole small town, and I remember how proud I always was that I was lucky enough to be born to them. They were good, decent, salt-of-the-earth people and there is something about being plain folks that I have always loved.

Today at church my Sunday School leader read a Father’s Day poem, and it reminded me of something I wrote long ago for my father. I had wearied of the usual gifts and I thought I would try to capture my thoughts on paper. I did have an actual gift, but I don’t think it meant as much to my father as what I wrote—I entitled it “Here’s My Heart” . . .

Here’s My Heart - -

Because you were the first man that I ever loved.

Here’s my heart - -

Because you have always been my true knight – never

a chink in the armor.

Here’s my heart - -for all the love and patience and

caring you’ve shown me through my whole life;

For helping me walk by myself again when the braces

weighed heavy on my feet and even heavier on my mind;

For all the times you said, “Young Lady, . . . “ just to

remind me that I was and should act the part;

For all the loving repairs and patches on broken dolls,

skinned knees, and broken hearts;

For making sure my teeth were straight, that I sat

up straight and for keeping me on the straight and narrow;

Here’s my heart - - for teaching me about honesty

and truth by being my best example;

For making sure I was read to and well read;

For teaching me to listen, and, when it mattered

most, for listening to me.

Here’s my heart - - For making sure I got a high

school education, a college education and sex education;

For helping me to be independent and “liberated”

before anyone knew (or cared) what it meant;

For loving mother so that I could see what real

love is;

For giving me a sense of worth about myself and

others;

For doing all this and never wavering in the process;

For this and all the myriad other things I can’t

begin to thank you for . . .

HERE’S MY HEART.

Happy Father’s Day,

Your Daughter

So--Happy Father's Day to all those men out there who serve as examples for the women in their lives.