My dad's birthday was Saturday, and between him coaching soccer, a wedding that day, and travel, his birthday flew by. But I still wanted to take a minute to celebrate my daddy! We are very close, and as you can see, I have inherited his eyes, his nose, and his love of football.
It only seems appropriate that his birthday is always around the start of football season. The NFL season officially started this week, and I couldn't be happier. My dad is a Packer fanatic, so growing up to Green Bay games on T.V. every Sunday after church, the Packers eventually became a mutual passion. We try to make it to at least one game a year and watch games together when possible. A condition when moving to Arizona, was that we would be purchasing Sunday Ticket every season so I wouldn't miss a Packer game. Even though I have moved across the country, I text my dad while watching every game with frequent messages of "That was crap!" or "Woot Woot" and we still watch every game together in spirit. Technology is a beautiful thing. I don't think I could live this far away from family without it.
My dad is the reason I have such an incredible family to miss. He takes his role as father very seriously. He didn't grow up with his own father, and has made it his mission to define what family looks like in his own. His definition of family is loving God, spending time together, respecting your parents, loving and showing up for your siblings. He intentionalized family. He knew that family bonds do not happen by accident but by working at it, just like in any loving relationship. We had dinner together and went to each other's soccer games and piano recitals, whether we liked it or not. The whole family came for open house and school plays, and holiday traditions and family vacations were sacred. We sat in the 2nd row of church together every Sunday, and although there were times that rules and expectations were rigid, and he was fiercely protective, the intent was always clear. He taught me that family is a priority, and that you have to love each other on purpose.
That started with loving my mom and creating an example of a strong marriage. There was never a question growing up that my mom came first to my dad. They put their marriage at the top of the list. They had weekend getaways, and their own Christmas Eve celebration late at night before the early morning tradition with us kids. He brought her chocolate from the grocery store, and flowers just because. They kissed and said sorry in front of us. Their marriage was not and is not perfect, but that's the beauty of it. It's still important to them, and now that all of us are grown and married ourselves, they get to keep working on it and decide what it looks like in this next chapter.
My dad taught me important ways of life, like not sweating the small stuff but fighting ferociously for the big stuff. While we don't always necessarily agree on what is small stuff and what is big stuff, I definitely have internalized that approach. My dad is an extremely laid back person until he believes intensely about something, and then watch out. He has a stubborn tenacity that will outlast anyone. My husband would argue I have also inherited that, and he'd probably be right. I sharpened those debate skills at an early age.
So again, Happy Birthday Dad. Thank you for teaching me how to be a Packer fan, how to argue, and how to love like it's my job.
