First of all, my Dad was a hard worker. He was a rancher, farmer, and restaurant owner. As a Rancher and Farmer, I spent many hours with him on the farm. He would let me ride with him while plowing the fields and later while harvesting. He grew Potatoes, and I had fun working to harvest them with the Navajo Native American's that he would hire to help.
He taught me to ride a horse, and I always wanted to be a cowgirl, and my favorite character from history was Annie Oakley.
He was a good chef. For several years, he owned in Richfield, Utah a Cafe that served the best Hamburgers, fries and shakes in the area. As a youth, I spent time peeling potatoes for the fries and helping in the Cafe. Later, my Dad and Mom ran a gift shop and cafe at Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort. My brother, John, owned it. My Dad was an excellent cook, and my Mom was great as a salesperson in the gift shop. I later was a waitress in High School and loved that experience.
The Second Lesson, I learned was how to love sports. My Dad was the coach for the town baseball team, and he was a good one. I felt like I was raised on a Baseball field. Then he was always helping my brothers in various sports like Baseball, Basketball, and Football. His advice helped my brothers be very good at these sports. Guess what, he helped me too. I could play pretty good in Softball, Basketball and a little football. I used to challenge my children and even my older grandchildren to play Basketball and or Football with me. I do believe that my best sport was basketball. My parents always came to my games, growing up.
Then, I must add he was a great fisherman and hunter. He taught me how to fish and helped me catch my first one. It didn't end there because I had to put the worm on the hook too. I even had to learn to clean a fish. Then he loved to hunt deer. He taught me how to shoot, and he and my husband were there the days that I shot my first deer. That being said, I did refuse to clean the deer; that wasn't something I could do without getting sick.
The Second Lesson I learned was how to be kind and love others. My Dad would do anything to help someone. There were countless moments when he came to the assistance of someone in need. He was generous with his time and money.
My Dad also taught me to enjoy life and to look for the positive. He had hard life experiences, but he knew how to have fun and be optimistic. In High School, most of my friends loved to come to our home because I had such fun parents.
He was a great missionary for the church. He served more than one Stake Mission and brought several couples back into activity and had some baptisms too.
He loved "The Book of Mormon." He and my mother would have couples over to listen to the Book of Mormon on records. That is where my testimony of the truthfulness of that book started. I could hear their discussions about this great book from my room. When I read it myself for the first time, I knew beyond a doubt, it was true.
The Fourth lesson was how to persevere through hard times. My Dad and Mom lost their ranch and farm. They eventually had to sell their cafe. They moved to Salt Lake City to find work. They both found jobs and worked hard for the rest of their life to make ends meet. This was when I was in Jr. High and High School. They never had a lot, but they always made time for fun. We did a lot of camping and other fun activities. My mother was a great seamstress and made most of my clothes throughout the years. I learned a lot about how not to want a lot of material possessions. I made do with what I had. I never felt I was missing out on anything. I learned to be happy where I was planted. I never cared about having a big home. I decided when I got married, I would be happy wherever we lived. In fact, I told my husband I could be comfortable in a tent. I think that came from the many camping trips, I went on with my parents and brothers.
Last but not least, I love my Dad because He loved to dance and sing. He really enjoyed music. He drove an Ice Cream truck for some years delivering Ice cream to different restaurants in Utah. I would get to go with him sometimes. It was such a treat. My Dad would sing away while we were traveling. I learned lots of fun, entertaining songs. My Dad would have me laughing at his silly songs. At the end of the first leg of the trip; we would spend the night in a hotel and go to a cowboy movie. I was raised on John Wayne movies. I still love them because I am a cowgirl at heart.
Most of all, I loved how my Dad loved my Mom. He was always grabbing her and dancing around the living room to the music they enjoyed. He grabbed me too. I loved dancing with him. It is also the one thing I love to do with my own husband.
One of my last precious memories of dancing with my Dad was at a Memory Care place. He was in there with Alzheimer's. He lost his memory except to remember my Mom and me. One day, I was visiting him in Las Vegas in this center. I had come down from Washington. We were in their activity room, and they put on some of the music he loved, and he grabbed my Mom for that one last dance, and then he danced with me too. Just thinking about it, I shed tears.
Thank you, Dad, for these lessons and many others. You were a spectacular father, and I miss you every day and can't wait for that day to dance with you again.
My Dearest Dad and Mom~
