a father like no other

Well yesterday was a fun day, we had to drive to Jackson to pick up a check for work, and took the long scenic route. It's been such a long time sice I went that way, and oh, it brought back so many good memories. One inparticular was when I was in high school. I, like most, had a rough time as a teenager, and it seems I was always fighting with one or both of my parents constantly, which is pretty normal I guess, but there was one day, that I got in a huge fight with my dad, and he ended up taking me to school, but as we were getting to the school, we were "making up" and starting to have a good talk. So my dad, being the incredible man that he is, decided that us spending some good time together was more important than anything else, so he took the day off, and let me get out of school, and we drove around the hoback, stopped and got square ice cream cones, and the works. it was one of the most memorable times that I've had w/my dad. It's amazing how many wonderful memories I have of just me and him, especially considering that he was the mayor of the small town I grew up in, the owner of a construction company, and the father of 11 childern! :) I'm so greatfull that he gave me the gift of unconditional love, and the love of nature. He has been such an incredible example to me, and I could never ask for a better father. I am so thankful that he is mine! :) I will always be so thankful for that day, I learned so much about my dad, that I had never known, it was the first time that I had really thought about the fact that my dad was a real person, and had had his own dreams, but came back to the little town he grew up in, after serving a mission in france, to help my grandfather run his construction company. He was the oldest of his siblings, and had only one brother, that was 12 years younger than him, so he felt like it was his responsability to stay. It's crazy because he is very smart when it comes to math and numbers, and he wanted to be an engineer, which would have made him a lot more money than the construction business that he never really wanted to do. Yet he never complaines, and even though we never had much money growing up, my dad always said that, if he had chosen to have "only" 4 or 5 kids, that he'd have the money for 4-wheelers, and snowmachines, and the like, but "what would all those things mean, without the people we love to share them with" Ah so true! As a kid, it always bothered me having such a big family, mostly due to the immature comments of teenage boys, but as an adult, I am SO greatful for each and everyone of my siblings, and would never trade one for anything. So I guess this is my thanks to my wonderful father, if I could be even a tenth of the parent that he is, I'll be a pretty damn good one! Ah guess that's all for now. I think my focus of today, will be gratitude :)