Happy Father's Day

Here's a tribute to my dad for Father's Day. Just like one of the speakers in church today, when I think of my Dad I think of vacations. Here's my dad on his boat, where he lives in the caribbean. He loves vacations. I remember being little and going to the cottage in Michigan in the summer where I learned to water ski in Higgins Lake. I'm guessing that now a days people wear wetsuits in this lake when learning to ski. I was never that lucky. I have pictures of me when I was 4 or 5 on my dad's shoulders while he skied. I'm thinking I must have got much of my adventuring spirit from my dad.

When we got older and my parents divorced, my dad took all 5 kids (I'm the oldest) on his own driving all night long from Ohio to Florida. Only now can I truly understand and appreciate the way he put suitcases around his seat in the van to keep us from standing really close to him and talking, laughing, or screaming in his ear while he was driving. This was the era before seatbelts were mandatory and even though we had mattresses to lay on in the back I think our favorite spot to be was standing right behind or right next to the driver and looking out the front windshield. Only now as a mother can I truly appreciate what he was trying to do, but at the time I was a little upset and maybe even offended that he didn't want us to to stand next to him while he drove. Boy, how our perspective changes.

On a different car trip I remember specifically thinking, "When I become an adult I'm going to remember what it was like being a kid! And I'm going to treat kids the way they want." That's funny, the last time Ross and I took a long road trip I think we took the seat behind the driver out of the car and then strapped them all in tightly with their seat belts. I have every confidence my kids will do something similar.