Thinking of you, Dad!

      Today is May 26th....my Dad was born on this day in 1932!  He was a twin with older siblings and his birth was the first time his Mom had babies in a hospital....that was a long time ago!  My dad has been gone for almost 9 years.  Wow, do I miss him!

      He was awesome...and he got more awesome the older he got!  When I was a kid, he worked alot and we didn't get to see him alot.  He worked nights for awhile, then he worked second shift...both were tough schedules to try and spend time with 8 kids!  I remember when my sister was born, I already had 4 younger brothers at home and Dad had to take me to town to buy my 1st Communion dress while my Mom was in the hospital.  It was pretty funny, but he did a great job.  Back then, Dads just didn't have much to do with shopping, especially for little girls.

      When I got married and we started having kids, he was a fun grandpa, spending time with our kids and teaching them all to drive when they were 10-12 years old!  Yes, he was crazy!  He could fix anything, or so I thought.  He loved tinkering with lawn mowers like his Dad had before him.  I remember almost every time we went to visit my grandparents, we hauled a mower in our car and traded it out for another one that my grandpa had fixed...probably from the last time we had been there.

      When we bought the resort, I had a built-in garage sale buyer.  He and Mom delighted in going to garage sales and I think almost every vaccuum cleaner in each of our cabins was bought at those sales and hauled up here from Illinois.  It seems Dad got sick when all the cabins had their vaccuums!  His job was done! 

      So, happy birthday, Dad.  I miss your smile, your love and your great sense of humor.  You would have loved all these nine little grandchildren that we have been blessed with.  We tell them stories about their great grandpa!

      Here's a picture of Dad & Mom, doing one of their favorite activities at the resort!