Shalane (the wife)
We have decided that it is time to start writing our first E-book chronicling our adventures into our new lifestyle as full-time rv’ers. We came to this decision because we looked at our previous blog titles and they appeared to be so random in nature, as to make it difficult for someone to really know the specifics of what it takes to become full-timers. This book is still in the early stages, but we do hope that we will have something in place by the end of the summer.
This brings us to the topic of our blog today, “Father’s Day”. Now you see what I mean about the random nature of our posts. Anyhow, we have noticed that there seems to be a huge increase in the number of fishermen at our lake this weekend. What is even more unusual is the number of children fishing with their fathers. Friday night I witnessed the fine attributes of a dad with 3 young daughters. After just a few minutes of watching their bobbers dancing on the water, these young ladies quickly lost interest in this sport and went off to play. One by one, their bobbers would disappear into the water, and he would call to them with urgency but also with patience and love in his voice. He really did want them to experience the joy that he found time day he reeled in a fish. Of course, the little ones were excited to run back to the dock and reel in their catch. He would just smile, take the fish off, bait their hook, help them throw the line back out, and then watch them run off again.
I tell you this story because I have had a chance to reflect on my relationship with my father. So many times in my life, I felt like my father was only on this earth to make my life as miserable as possible. For instance when I was about 16 yrs old, my dad decided that he wanted to move out to the country. I had a drivers license and it was only about a 1 ½ miles from the town I grew up in, so I was sure that it wouldn’t affect me much. Oh, how I was wrong! My parents decided that they wanted to purchase a new home, which again didn’t bother me. However, I soon realized that they wanted to buy a home where the company built the basic frame of the house, but EVERYTHING else was to be done by us. I still remember getting up early every Saturday to go work on another part of the house. To make matters worse, my 15 year old brother loved working on the house, and since it wasn’t my “thing,” I really appeared to be the lazy one.
Now the good news, my dad really did do the right thing. It took me a while, but, as I look back on it, I gained a lot of valuable experience that many youth never receive. As I bought my own homes and needed to make repairs on them, so many times I found myself fixing things that I know, had I not had those experiences, I would have had to hire someone to do. It seems as if he was teaching me something that he knew that I would someday need.
That brings me to my next thought. How am I doing as the father of my own children? I know there must have been times when they thought that I was just trying to make their lives miserable. This was made obvious by the rolling eyes, the huffy breaths and the slamming doors. I’ve noticed, however, that as they have gotten older, they seem to have more of an appreciation of some of the things that I have taught them. We still have a way to go, but we’re making progress.
The moral of the story is this: HANG IN THEIR DADS, continue to do the right thing and your time will come. It’s just having to wait a decade for the “enlightening” to occur that’s the hard part. However, remember that anything truly worthwhile is not easy to accomplish. After all, if it were easy, we probably wouldn’t appreciate it as much. I wish that I would have told my father these things before he passed away, a little less than a decade ago. I also hope that, by writing this blog, at least a few fathers will hear from their children, and that we will all take a moment to acknowledge the lessons that our fathers have taught us.
I tell you this story because I have had a chance to reflect on my relationship with my father. So many times in my life, I felt like my father was only on this earth to make my life as miserable as possible. For instance when I was about 16 yrs old, my dad decided that he wanted to move out to the country. I had a drivers license and it was only about a 1 ½ miles from the town I grew up in, so I was sure that it wouldn’t affect me much. Oh, how I was wrong! My parents decided that they wanted to purchase a new home, which again didn’t bother me. However, I soon realized that they wanted to buy a home where the company built the basic frame of the house, but EVERYTHING else was to be done by us. I still remember getting up early every Saturday to go work on another part of the house. To make matters worse, my 15 year old brother loved working on the house, and since it wasn’t my “thing,” I really appeared to be the lazy one.
Now the good news, my dad really did do the right thing. It took me a while, but, as I look back on it, I gained a lot of valuable experience that many youth never receive. As I bought my own homes and needed to make repairs on them, so many times I found myself fixing things that I know, had I not had those experiences, I would have had to hire someone to do. It seems as if he was teaching me something that he knew that I would someday need.
That brings me to my next thought. How am I doing as the father of my own children? I know there must have been times when they thought that I was just trying to make their lives miserable. This was made obvious by the rolling eyes, the huffy breaths and the slamming doors. I’ve noticed, however, that as they have gotten older, they seem to have more of an appreciation of some of the things that I have taught them. We still have a way to go, but we’re making progress.
The moral of the story is this: HANG IN THEIR DADS, continue to do the right thing and your time will come. It’s just having to wait a decade for the “enlightening” to occur that’s the hard part. However, remember that anything truly worthwhile is not easy to accomplish. After all, if it were easy, we probably wouldn’t appreciate it as much. I wish that I would have told my father these things before he passed away, a little less than a decade ago. I also hope that, by writing this blog, at least a few fathers will hear from their children, and that we will all take a moment to acknowledge the lessons that our fathers have taught us.
Dean’s father was a writer and an artist, talents that Dean has acquired, as well. I am lucky to have these men as part of my life. I am also blessed to have a step-dad that taught me to love the outdoors and a father that loves me unconditionally and is always there for me. Thank you, dads, and Happy Fathers Day.
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