Happy Father's Day Dad - from Rebecca

Happy Father's Day Dad! Yes, we had to set one of these up for you too! It's just such a great place to share memories, thoughts and pictures.

I am grateful for your example and perseverance over the years. As I re-type some of my old journals I realize how often you were giving us advice, making sure we were trying to accomplish our goals and wanting us to succeed.

There are a couple of memories from when I was a little girl that pop into my head:

(Picture: Dad trying to take a nap on the lawn chair in Nebraska. I think I really wanted to sit on the lawn chair too. Those were "cool" 1970s green lawn chairs!)

• A Raisin in the Can - In California, I remember you and I sitting and eating from a big can (like those that Mom puts wheat in at the storehouse) of raisins. It seems that other people in the room (Mom, RaeLyn?) thought it was gross that we were eating so many, but I remember thinking it was really neat that we were both eating all these raisins.



• Island of the Blue Dolphins - You bought me this book when you went on a business trip and it seemed like you read it to me every night before I went to bed. Or, maybe I requested that you read it to me every night before I went to bed. I loved imagining that I was the girl in the book living with a pack of wolves on a distant island. I remember looking forward to it.


• Family Trips - It seemed like our family had the best family vacations. I remember hours in the car driving across the United States. It seemed like you always had confidence that we could get to the next gas station. However, in my mind it seems like we ALWAYS were running out of gas. We probably ran out only about 3-4 times on all the trips, but it seemed like this happened a lot. Was it on purpose?


• Dow Van - You took me on a business trip one day in the Dow Van. I thought it was the neatest trip. You gave me all these little Dow notebooks to write and color in while you were meeting with farmers, presenting at a conference and just generally driving around.



• My first paid job - I think you gave me my first paid job. You let me put all of these packets together for your presentations and would pay me 2 cents per packet or something. I remember setting up everything around the little Thai round table in the Nebraska basement and trying to race against myself to get the tasks complete. Sometimes I'd have to go into the scary room (the laundry room) to get more pens or something to finish the work. Or wait, was that just me sneaking into more pens for my writings?



• Personal Interviews - I remember you meeting with us periodically in our bedrooms for little interviews. You would ask us about our goals and how we were doing. I remembered being kind of embarrassed to have the interview, but feel kind of special too. I've never heard of anyone else ever doing this and so it made it an extra privilege to have these meetings.


• Mission Trip - We flew on the same flight together to Cincinnati or some other Ohio town. I remember appreciating this trip and I think it calmed me down before I went into the missionary training center. And even though I didn't get to see you in Portland when you came to visit, I felt proud that my father was getting to spend time with my mission president, especially when everyone that met you said they thought you were a wonderful father.
  
• Career Advice - I remember not knowing what to do after college. Life hadn't turned out as planned, but come to think of it - I'm not sure I had really "planned" what it would/should be like. You sat down with me and helped me write down ideas on different pieces of paper. I think I still have those pieces of paper somewhere. The important part about all of this is that a couple of major themes emerged from our discuss. I wanted to be involved with computers, education, and training. Although I've felt a bit random over the years, it is interesting that I'm doing exactly that - e-learning in my job today.


• Emails - I always appreciate the emails you send out - talks you've written, quotes from other people, status reports (that typically begin with lines such as "the flowers are blooming and the sunshine is cascading through the front window...") and reminders to give, to write, or to be better people.


• Service - I am grateful for your service to others and to the family. It's taught me a great deal about giving time, talents and energy to helping others even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable, inconvenient, etc.
  

Well, enough with the bulleted list. I'm grateful to have you as a father! I'm grateful for your love and support even though I know it is difficult for you to express those feelings at times. I am grateful that you and Mom work so hard in the temple, spend so much time praying and worrying about us and hoping for our futures.

I love you, Rebecca