Tribute to My Father

Today is my dad's birthday. In honor of him, I would like to share a few of the many reasons I love him so much.


1. Service-oriented: In one conversation with my father, I realized he would rather spend time helping friends than get paid by a stranger for doing the same job. He truly enjoys spending his time in service. We threw a simple surprise party for his birthday a couple years ago. It was just an open house, but I bet at least 30 people showed up. Afterwards in talking to my dad about it, he said, “you know the neat thing about tonight is I looked around the room and I have helped and done something for each person in there.” He went on to list some of the people and what he had done for them: finished their basement, poured the cement in their driveway, patched their roof, etc. He wasn’t bragging; he was sincerely grateful that he had the opportunity to help so many people.

2. Hard worker: Growing up my dad labored to provide a good life for our family. He had many jobs that were very labor-intensive, and he was extremely good at them. One decision I admire my father for is his choice to make a living that kept him home with our family. He has told me that his decisions regarding work were made so that he could be home to see us kids grow up. That is what was most important to him and for that I am so, so grateful. We always had the things that we needed: clothing, shelter, and most importantly, each other.

3. Friendly: My dad has more friends than any adult I know. He is incredibly personable and makes friends with just about anyone he meets: background, religion, race, or circumstance does not matter. He taught me an invaluable lesson when I was young: "just because a person does something that we don’t agree with (for example, smoking or not attending church), it does not mean they are a bad person." That has always stuck with me. Even people that his neighbors don’t seem to know or don’t seem to like, get along with, and respect my dad.

4. Religious: My dad's a softy. He likes to put on a front that he is intimidating and gruff. But he's not. He doesn't express his tender feelings regularly, but that is what makes his convictions even more believable to me. The rare times when he cries or gets heated about religious subjects, shows me how strongly rooted his beliefs are. Some of my favorite moments with my father are when he has given me a blessing. Feeling his strong, gruff hands on my head as he speaks for Heavenly Father is incredibly touching and humbling. In those moments I have gained strong testimony of Heavenly Father’s love for me, my father’s love for me, and the importance and reality of Priesthood power.

5. Supportive: Probably the hardest thing I’ve done in this life is move so far away from family. Although my dad made it apparent that he would miss me, he never once tried to get me to stay. He was clear that Cody and I have our own family now and we need to do what is best for us. On several occasions he mentioned how good this would be for us; that he would love it if we were living next door to him, but he was happy and excited for us. His encouragement was a huge comfort and made such a difficult move a lot easier.

The list goes on and on… he is a great singer, craftsman, artist, fisherman, comedian; he is honest and has great integrity; he is incredibly smart, intellectual, and caring. He is a wonderful husband, always showing respect and passion for my mother. And he is undoubtedly an exceptional father.