My Dad

Thank you to all of you that have prayed for us over the past several months. I am sorry to say that Dad passed away on February 21, 2008. I am so thankful I had the past few months with him but I miss him so much. I wanted to post the words I shared at the funeral. It was a bittersweet day. I knew dad was with his Heavenly Father and in no more pain, but I wanted him there with me.

Becky and I would like to thank you all for coming today to celebrate the life of our Dad.

Two weeks ago, as I was leaving Dad’s room in the ICU, I told him I loved him as I prepared to leave. He said “I love you too. If anyone does, I do.”

The past six months have been bittersweet for us. We have had to come to the realization of how sick our dad was. However, we also had the opportunity to savor each moment and not take time for granted. This was a miracle given to us by God.

During this time I learned a great deal about dad. I was able to see many similarities in him, me and Becky. Becky has his strong, quiet strength and I have his need to plan, organize and execute. In other words, to be in control. He was a man of few words (I’m sure many of you wish I had inherited this trait) but don’t mistake that for ignorance. “Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.” Proverbs 10:14

He would always tell me and Becky not to get in a hurry to grow up. Well, he wasted his breathe on me because I have never felt young. However, I believe he lived out part of his childhood vicariously through us. He gave us robots, go carts, remote control boats and cars, we went fishing, put together model cars and he introduced us to the Atari. We vividly remember the remote control boat. He lived on the shores of Olathe Lake and he couldn’t wait for us to put it in the water. I wouldn’t have changed any of it.

He wasn’t perfect and neither are we. But he loved his girls and we loved him. Love overlooks the bad and only sees the good, it never judges and it never quits.

Becky and I take comfort in the fact that this isn’t goodbye. One day we will see him again in Heaven. We will miss him and we will miss what might have been, but we have had 28 and 31 years to call him Dad.

We love you dad. If anyone does, we do.