I Will Always Be A Daddy's Girl

"Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat.  Then fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher's mound.  Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three together.  Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again."  ~Jimmy Piersal, on how to diaper a baby, 1968

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     Since Father's Day is right around the corner, I wanted to talk about my daddy.  I have to say that I am a daddy's girl. Most of my great memories from childhood were made because of my daddy. I remember being just a little girl and always sitting in his lap on the floor watching T.V. Our favorite show was "Cops". I loved to fish so he would take me on all night fishing trips with him. We would go to this crappy, smelly lake and fish all night. I would always fall asleep, usually without catching anything, but I never passed up an opportunity to go with him.

     Growing up, my dad was a truck driver. He was gone a lot but when he was home, he made my life fun. A lot of times, he would take me, my mom and my sisters on trips with him. My favorite trips were when he would take us to Florida. Because of him, I have toured most of that state.  I was 2 years old when he took me on my first trip to Miami and I remember it like it was yesterday. He took us through Ft. Lauderdale near some nuclear plant where there was a river full of colorful tropical fish and manatees. When I got a little older he would take me on trips by myself. I was obsessed with New York when I was 12 years old, so he took me with him. It was such a fun experience because I had never been out of the South. When I was 14, he did one of the most amazing things for me. I had been wanting to fly on an airplane sooo bad. So, he drove down to Jacksonville so that I could fly and he would meet me there. That flight was so awesome. I felt so grown up because I got to fly by myself. He met me at the airport and took me to the mall  so I could do some back-to-school shopping. From there, we drove to St. Simons Island (our favorite family vacation spot) where my grandmother had a house, and we stayed there for the night. He took me to the beach and out to eat and then we headed for home. 

       Even after I became an adult and was pregnant, he still treated me like I was still his little girl. There was this one instance when I was spending the night with my parents when I was pregnant with my first child and I woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible toothache. He heard me crying and even though it was 3am, he went to a gas station to get me some Tylenol. He did it without me even having to ask. Now that's an awesome dad.
To this day, he will all but force money on me if he thinks I'm low on funds.

       I am so lucky to have such an amazing dad. We are still close and I see him on almost a daily basis. He has done so much for me and I know I will never be able to repay him, but that's the great part. He doesn't expect anything in return.